The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

, providing policy advice directly to the British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

in 1974, it has gone through a series of guises to suit the needs of successive prime ministers, staffed variously by political advisers, civil servants and more recently a combination of both. The Coalition Government of May 2010 quickly disbanded two major parts of central infrastructure built by

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

, the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) and Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (PMSU), as part of the Prime Minister's agenda to reduce the number of special advisers and end the micromanagement of

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

. In their place, a strengthened Policy and Implementation Unit was launched in early 2011 by the Cabinet Secretary, staffed wholly by civil servants and reporting jointly to the

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 is not ...

and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

under joint heads Paul Kirby (Policy) and Kris Murrin (Implementation). Members of the Policy Unit in 2010 were Gavin Lockhart-Mirams (Home Affairs), Sean Worth (Health and Adult Social Care), Chris Brown (Education), Richard Freer (Defence), Tim Luke (Business and Enterprise), Michael Lynas (

Big Society The Big Society was a sociopolitical concept of the first 15 years of the 21st century, that was developed by the populist Steve Hilton, that sought to integrate free market economics with a conservative paternalist conception of the social con ...

) and Ben Moxham (Energy and Environment). The Unit is supported by the Research and Analytics Unit. Andrew Griffith MP was the director of the Policy Unit until 8 July 2022. The vacant post was filled by Jamie Hope on 6 September 2022 as part of the incoming Truss ministry.

List of Policy Directors

References

{{Downing Street British Prime Minister's Office Public bodies and task forces of the United Kingdom government Public policy in the United Kingdom 1974 establishments in the United Kingdom

List of Policy Directors

See also

References