Abstract
Armstrong was a complex, compelling and elusive personality. Rational, analytical and imaginative, he also had a deep religious faith—though not of a conventional kind—which was central to his character and at the bottom of his inner struggles. A man of his times, accepting a large and active role for the public sector, he was also acutely aware of the limitations and constraints on state action, and of the growing challenges to government, society and the economy in the 1970s.
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Notes
- 1.
Samuel Brittan , ‘A passion for rationality’, Financial Times, 14 July 1980.
- 2.
Interview with Lady Armstrong (PC).
- 3.
Interview with Peter Armstrong (PC).
- 4.
‘A Chance to Meet: Sir William Armstrong’, BBC television, 17 October 1971 (transcript in Armstrong papers).
- 5.
‘Apologia’: extract from BBC World Service talk by William Armstrong, 1972, and Address by Gordon Richardson, Memorial Service for William Armstrong, St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, 16 September 1980 (Armstrong papers).
- 6.
‘A Chance to Meet: Sir William Armstrong’, BBC television, 17 October 1971 (transcript in Armstrong papers).
- 7.
‘Christian Belief Today’—dialogue between Sir William Armstrong and Canon David Edwards, Sanderstead United Reformed Church, 24 March 1974 (transcript in Armstrong papers).
- 8.
Interview and correspondence with Lord (Claus) Moser (PC).
- 9.
Private information (PC).
- 10.
‘Lord Armstrong, controversial but “a great public servant”’, The Guardian, 14 July 1980.
- 11.
Interview with Lady Armstrong (PC).
- 12.
Private information.
- 13.
‘The Chancellor’s right-hand man’, The Observer, 30 September 1962.
- 14.
Eric Jacobs, ‘Cleaning up the corridors of power’, The Sunday Times, 15 September 1968.
- 15.
W.B. Nicholson to Sir William Armstrong, 22 September 1970, with transcript of interview held on 25 February 1970 (Armstrong papers).
- 16.
Open University broadcast, ‘Understanding Society’, 3 June 1970 (transcript in Armstrong papers).
- 17.
Kenneth Rose, Elusive Rothschild (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2003), p. 163; interview with Richard Wilding (PC).
- 18.
Alec Cairncross , The Wilson Years: A Treasury Diary, 1964–1969 (London: The Historians’ Press, 1997), pp. 290, 292. Some of Armstrong’s remarks at that Sunningdale event were also reported in Eric Jacobs, ‘Cleaning up the corridors of power’, The Sunday Times, 15 September 1968.
- 19.
Armstrong papers.
- 20.
The Cecil King Diary 1970–1974 (London: Jonathan Cape, 1975), p. 356. Internal evidence in the King diaries makes the identification of ‘A.B.’ as William Armstrong incontrovertible. The journalists Anthony Howard and Hugo Young soon unmasked ‘A.B.’ and Cecil King’s other civil service lunch guest ‘C.D’—naming the latter as Burke Trend, the Cabinet Secretary. See: Anthony Howard, ‘Down-Stage’, New Statesman, 17 October 1975, p. 476; Hugo Young, ‘News from nowhere: review of Cecil King Diary 1970–74’, The Sunday Times, 19 October 1975, p. 30; ‘London Diary’, New Statesman, 21 November 1975, p. 640.
- 21.
‘Memories of William Armstrong’, MEG 45, Mile End Group, Queen Mary University of London (2008).
- 22.
Sir William Armstrong, ‘A Layman Looks at the Church’, lecture to Church Leaders Conference, 12 September 1972 (Armstrong papers).
- 23.
Sir William Armstrong, ‘The Role and Character of the Civil Service’, Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. 56 (London, 1970), p. 214.
- 24.
‘Memories of William Armstrong’, MEG 45, Mile End Group, Queen Mary University of London (2008).
- 25.
Armstrong, ‘A Layman Looks at the Church’ (Armstrong papers).
- 26.
Lord Armstrong of Sanderstead, ‘Government and Industry Relationships’, in David Lethbridge (ed), Government and Industry Relationships (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1976), p. 93.
- 27.
Authority of Government Policy Group, minutes of 12th meeting (guest: Lord Armstrong), 21 July 1976, Margaret Thatcher Foundation [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111390].
- 28.
The Cecil King Diary 1970–1974 (London: Jonathan Cape, 1975), pp. 66–67.
- 29.
Armstrong, ‘A Layman Looks at the Church’ (Armstrong papers).
- 30.
Anthony King, ‘The problem of overload’, in Anthony King (ed), Why is Britain becoming harder to govern? (London: BBC, 1976).
- 31.
Lord Armstrong, ‘A personal view’, in R. Tricker (ed), The Individual, the Enterprise and the State (London: Halstead Press, 1977), pp. 28–29.
- 32.
Authority of Government Policy Group, minutes of 12th meeting (guest: Lord Armstrong), 21 July 1976, Margaret Thatcher Foundation [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111390].
- 33.
Armstrong, ‘A personal view’, pp. 29–30.
- 34.
The Cecil King Diary 1970–1974 (London: Jonathan Cape, 1975), p. 38.
- 35.
The Cecil King Diary 1970–1974, p. 246.
- 36.
Armstrong, ‘A personal view’, p. 27.
- 37.
Armstrong, ‘A Layman Looks at the Church’ (Armstrong papers).
- 38.
The Cecil King Diary 1970–1974, p. 246.
- 39.
Armstrong, ‘A Layman Looks at the Church’ (Armstrong papers).
- 40.
Sir William Armstrong, ‘Whatever happens, it will be painful’, Evening Standard, 17 September 1974.
- 41.
Armstrong, ‘Government and Industry Relationships’, pp. 91–93.
- 42.
‘Memories of William Armstrong’, MEG 45, Mile End Group, Queen Mary University of London (2008).
- 43.
Correspondence with Lord Armstrong of Ilminster (PC).
- 44.
Interview with Sir John Chilcot (PC).
- 45.
Interview with Lord Croham (PC).
- 46.
Financial Times, 29 May 1968; Sunday Telegraph, 1 May 1977; Sunday Times,13 July 1980; BBC radio, ‘Talking Politics’, 9 January 1971, transcript in National Archives BA 6/75.
- 47.
Phillip Whitehead, The Writing on the Wall: Britain in the Seventies (London: Michael Joseph, 1985), p. 89.
- 48.
Peter Hennessy, Whitehall (London: Secker and Warburg, 1989), p. 241.
- 49.
Anthony Sampson, New Anatomy of Britain (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1971), p. 250.
- 50.
Graham Turner, ‘Make and break for a top civil servant’, Sunday Telegraph, 1 May 1977.
- 51.
Interview with former permanent secretary (KT).
- 52.
Samuel Brittan , ‘A passion for rationality’, Financial Times, 14 July 1980.
- 53.
Sampson, New Anatomy of Britain, p. 252.
- 54.
‘Memories of William Armstrong’, MEG 45, Mile End Group, Queen Mary University of London (2008).
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Theakston, K., Connelly, P. (2018). William Armstrong: An Assessment. In: William Armstrong and British Policy Making. Understanding Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57159-5_8
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