Cabinet government

Introduction

During the 20th century the increasing scope of government produced large amounts of records, and the Cabinet was no exception. Originally these documents were classified for a minimum of 70 years, but this was reduced to 30 years in the 1970s. Now with the Freedom of Information Act, government information and the process of decision making is more accessible to the researcher than ever before.

The Cabinet

In this section learn more about the Cabinet, its history and how the records work.

Government who's who

Find information on posts held in the Cabinet and the Great Offices of State, and discover exactly who held which post when.

Meetings and papers

Learn about the types of documents used in Cabinet meetings and browse actual books and complete sets of documents. Follow various time period links - such as the 'War Cabinet between 1916 and 1919' - to examine different document types.