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Robin Butler: At the Heart of Power from Heath to Blair
With almost four decades of experience in the Civil Service, Robin Butler, Lord Butler of Brockwell, has been privy to a succession of parliamentary shake-ups and international policy crises.
During his remarkable career, Butler served as Private Secretary to Edward Heath, Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher and as Cabinet Secretary under Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair. He has been in some risky situations, such as his proximity, with Margaret Thatcher, to the 1984 IRA bombing in Brighton and, with John Major, to the mortar attack on Downing Street in February 1991. To the public, however, he is perhaps best known for his role as the chairman of the 2004 inquiry into Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
In this illuminating political biography, Michael Jago weaves a narrative around Robin Butler's distinguished career as a civil servant, measured against the changing background of British politics over the past forty years. Butler successfully preserved the traditions of the Civil Service - above all, political impartiality - while implementing far-reaching changes and more mobility between the service and the outside world. Jago's study of that pivotal role, undertaken while the paint is still fresh, makes this biography required reading for anyone interested in the dynamics at the heart of power.
During his remarkable career, Butler served as Private Secretary to Edward Heath, Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher and as Cabinet Secretary under Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair. He has been in some risky situations, such as his proximity, with Margaret Thatcher, to the 1984 IRA bombing in Brighton and, with John Major, to the mortar attack on Downing Street in February 1991. To the public, however, he is perhaps best known for his role as the chairman of the 2004 inquiry into Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
In this illuminating political biography, Michael Jago weaves a narrative around Robin Butler's distinguished career as a civil servant, measured against the changing background of British politics over the past forty years. Butler successfully preserved the traditions of the Civil Service - above all, political impartiality - while implementing far-reaching changes and more mobility between the service and the outside world. Jago's study of that pivotal role, undertaken while the paint is still fresh, makes this biography required reading for anyone interested in the dynamics at the heart of power.
625 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 20, 2017
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About the author
Michael Jago
9 books2 followersMichael Jago read Ancient History and Philosophy at University College, Oxford before settling in the USA in 1980. For fifteen years he ran an educational travel business, focusing on the battlefields of Western Europe. Previously a publisher and editor of a number of journals, he now specialises in biography.
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June 22, 2025
One of the most interesting and inspiring biographies I've read. Lord Butler's - as he now is - diligent and charitable rise throughout the ranks of His Majesty's Civil Service to the very top, while acting as a faithful preserver of tradition, and a translator of modernisation impulses, at the same time, is inspiring. Lord Butler can easily be described as one of the best - if not the best - civil servant of his generation.
I would throughly recommend the read to anyone interested in contemporary British history, the Civil Service, public administration, or in inspiring biographies, in general.
I would throughly recommend the read to anyone interested in contemporary British history, the Civil Service, public administration, or in inspiring biographies, in general.
Displaying 1 of 1 review