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Chapter 8 - The Rise and Fall of the Foreign Secretary, 1782–2024

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2024

Anthony Seldon
Assisted by
Jonathan Meakin ,
Illias Thoms  and
Tom Egerton
Anthony Seldon
Affiliation:
University of Buckingham
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Summary

By 2024, the prime minister had emerged as the dominant figure in control of foreign policy, taking over the powers initially from the monarch, then Parliament, then the Foreign Secretary. The prime minister decides British foreign relations, whether the country goes to war, and how it is fought. This chapter will examine how and why this transition occurred, and why the prime minister today can afford to be more preoccupied with foreign rather than domestic policy, and what this has meant to the office and powers of the prime minister – even in the face of war and increasing geopolitical tension.

Keywords

Foreign SecretaryEmpireUnited Kingdomspecial relationshipimperialisminternational relationsWhitehallgoverningnavy
Type
Chapter
Information
The Impossible Office?
The History of the British Prime Minister - Revised and Updated
 , pp. 313 - 348
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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