Catherine Susan "Kate" Fall, Baroness Fall (born 1967) is a British peer and political advisor. She served as
Deputy Chief of Staff for
David Cameron when he was
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
and became a
life peer in September 2015.
Early life
Born in 1967,
["Fall, Baroness, (Catherine Susan Fall), Senior Adviser, Brunswick Group" in '']Who's Who 2017
''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...
'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2017) Fall is the daughter of
Sir Brian Fall, a former British Ambassador to the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, and has an identical twin, Melanie. She was educated at
Cobham Hall, Kent,
King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...
, and
St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she met Cameron while both were studying
Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Career
Fall worked with
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
at the
Conservative Research Department
The Conservative Research Department (CRD) is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters in Westminster.
The CRD has been descr ...
, and became one of the
Notting Hill set.
She was reported to be Osborne's girlfriend during the 1990s. In 2001 she acted as Cameron's advisor for his first election campaign in the
Oxfordshire parliamentary constituency of
Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
. She also worked for a Conservative
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
and for the
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...
. She then worked in
Michael Howard's business liaison unit, during his
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
and of
the Opposition,
[ before becoming a director of the think-tank The Atlantic Partnership. She became Cameron's private office secretary after he was elected in 2005 to replace Howard as the Leader of the Conservative Party.
When Cameron became prime minister in May 2010, he appointed Conservative advisor Edward Llewellyn ]Downing Street Chief of Staff
The office of Downing Street Chief of Staff is the most senior political appointee in the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, acting as a senior aide to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of the office retains ...
and created the role of Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff, with responsibility for supporting the Chief of Staff, a position he gave to Fall, with a salary of £100,000. In 2011, Fall was ranked by the ''Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' as one of the 100 most influential people in London. Briefed to keep Cameron "punctual and punctilious", by 2012 she had been nicknamed "The Gatekeeper". She was nominated for a life peerage in Cameron's Dissolution Honours List
Crown Honours Lists are lists of honours conferred upon citizens of the Commonwealth realms. The awards are presented by or in the name of the reigning monarch, currently King Charles III, or his vice-regal representative.
New Year Honours
Hon ...
in August 2015, gazetted
A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.
In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
in September 2015. The next year she became a senior adviser to the Brunswick Group
Brunswick is the historical English name for the German city of Braunschweig ( Low German: ''Brunswiek'', Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'').
Brunswick may also refer to:
Places and other topographs
Australia
* Brunswick, Victoria, a suburb ...
.[
In March 2020, Fall published a memoir of her time in government, ''The Gatekeeper: Life at the Heart of Number 10''. Writing in the ''Evening Standard'', ]Julian Glover
Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles since commencing his career in the 1950s. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for the ...
declared this to be the book of the week.
Honours
On 22 October 2015, she was created Baroness Fall, of Ladbroke Grove in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, for life.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fall, Catherine
1967 births
Living people
Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford
British government officials
British identical twins
British special advisers
Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Conservative Party (UK) officials
Identical twins
People educated at Cobham Hall School
People educated at The King's School, Canterbury