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

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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