The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, also called the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, is the

permanent secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. The office holder is the government's principal civilian adviser on Defence matters. The office holder is a member of the Defence Council and the

Defence Board National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attack ...

. The position has existed in its current format since the formation of the modern Ministry of Defence in 1964. It was preceded by the Permanent Secretary at the earlier

Ministry of Defence (1947–1964) The Ministry of Defence was a department of the British Government responsible for defence and the British Armed Forces. History Prior to the Second World War defence policy was co-ordinated by the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID). In 1936 the ...

, and by the Permanent Secretaries at the government departments that were absorbed into the Ministry of Defence in 1964: the

Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty The Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty was the permanent secretary at the Admiralty, the department of state in Great Britain responsible for the administration of the Royal Navy. He was head of the Admiralty Secretariat, later known as the '' D ...

, the

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for ...

, and the Permanent Secretary to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. The current Permanent Secretary to the MOD is David Williams.

Permanent Secretaries to the Ministry of Defence (1947–1964)

The Permanent Secretaries at the earlier

: * 1947: Sir Henry Wilson Smith * 1948: Sir Harold Parker * 1956: Sir Richard Powell * 1960: Sir Edward Playfair * 1961: Sir Robert Scott * 1964: Sir Henry Hardman

Permanent Secretaries to the Ministry of Defence (1964–present)

* Henry Hardman (1964–1966) *

James Dunnett Sir Ludovic James Dunnett, GCB, CMG (12 February 1914 – 30 December 1997) was an English civil servant. Born in India, he was the son of Sir James Macdonald Dunnett, a senior official in the Indian Civil Service. He grew up in Edinburgh before ...

(1966–1974) *

Michael Cary Sir Arthur Lucius Michael Cary GCB (3 April 1917 - 6 March 1976) was a British civil servant who served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence. Early life and education Cary was born to Joyce Cary and Gertrude Margaret Ogilvie at ...

(1974–1976) * Frank Cooper (1976–1982) *

Clive Whitmore Sir Clive Anthony Whitmore (born 18 January 1935) is a former British senior civil servant. Whitmore was educated at Sutton Grammar School in Surrey and Christ's College, Cambridge. Whitmore served as Principal Private Secretary to Margaret Tha ...

(1982–1988) * Michael Quinlan (1988–1992) * Christopher France (1992–1995) *

Richard Mottram Sir Richard Clive Mottram (born 23 April 1946) is a former British civil servant, who retired in 2007 from his most recent senior post as Permanent Secretary, Intelligence, Security and Resilience in the Cabinet Office. He has served on the boa ...

(1995–1998) *

Kevin Tebbit Sir Kevin Reginald Tebbit (born 18 October 1946)"TEBBIT, Sir Kevin Reginald (1946 - )", ''Debrett's People of Today'', 2004 is a former British civil servant. Career He was educated at the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys and was a senior hi ...

(1998–2005) *

Bill Jeffrey Sir William Alexander Jeffrey, KCB (born 28 February 1948) is a former senior British civil servant, who retired in the autumn of 2010. Jeffrey was educated at Allan Glen's School, Glasgow, and the Glasgow University. He joined the Home Offic ...

(2005–2010) * Ursula Brennan (2010–2012) * Jon Thompson (2012–2016) *

Stephen Lovegrove Sir Stephen Augustus Lovegrove (born 30 November 1966) is a British civil servant who was appointed as UK National Security Adviser with effect from the end of March 2021, having previously served as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ...

(2016–2021) * David Williams (2021–)

References

{{United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, state=collapsed Civil service positions in the United Kingdom Civil Service (United Kingdom) Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Defence