Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell

(Redirected from Sir Robin Butler) British civil servant (born 1938)

The Right HonourableThe Lord Butler of BrockwellKG GCB CVO PC
Lord Butler in 2019

Cabinet Secretary Head of the Home Civil Service
In office 1988–1998
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher John Major Tony Blair
Preceded by	Sir Robert Armstrong
Succeeded by	Sir Richard Wilson
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
In office 1982–1985
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Clive Whitmore
Succeeded by	Nigel Wicks

Personal details
Born	(1938-01-03) 3 January 1938 (age 86) Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England
Spouse	Gillian Lois Galley (m. 1962)
Children	3
Alma mater	University College, Oxford

Frederick Edward Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, KG, GCB, CVO, PC (born 3 January 1938) is a retired British civil servant, now sitting in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.

Early life and family

Butler was born in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, on 3 January 1938. He went to Orley Farm School and Harrow School (where he was Head Boy), then taught for a year at St Dunstan's School, Burnham-on-Sea, before attending University College, Oxford, where he took a double first in Mods and Greats and twice gained a Rugby Blue. He married Gillian Lois Galley in 1962. They have a daughter and two sons.

Civil service career

Butler had a high-profile career in the civil service from 1961 to 1998, serving as Private Secretary to five Prime Ministers. He was Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service from 1988 to 1998.

He joined HM Treasury in 1961, becoming Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1964–66 and Secretary to the Budget Committee 1965–69.

Early in his career, he was occasionally confused with his namesake Rab Butler. Memos for Rab Butler, some highly sensitive, ended up on his desk, and some of his ended up on Rab's. It was agreed that all memos ambiguously addressed to "R Butler" should go to Rab's office first, and then Rab's office would send on any intended for the other R Butler. It is said that one day the young Butler, who was still playing first class rugby, received a letter that read: "You have been selected for the Richmond 1st XV on Saturday. Please be at Twickenham by 2 p.m.". Underneath, in Rab's distinctive handwriting, was the message: "Dear Robin, I am not free on Saturday. Please could you deputise for me? Rab"!

In 1969, he was seconded to the Bank of England and several City institutions. Later at HM Treasury as Assistant Secretary, General Expenditure Intelligence Division, he led the team which installed the UK Government's computerised financial information system 1975–77. He had been a founder member of the Central Policy Review Staff under Lord Rothschild 1971–2. After several senior appointments at the Treasury, he became second Permanent Secretary, Public Expenditure, 1985–87.

He was Private Secretary to Prime Ministers Edward Heath (1972–74) and Harold Wilson (1974–75), and Principal Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher (1982–85). Along with Thatcher, he was almost killed in the 1984 IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton. He was also Cabinet Secretary during the premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair.

Other activities

After retiring from the Civil Service, Butler was Master of University College, Oxford, 1998–2008. He was made a life peer in the 1998 New Year Honours and was raised to the peerage as Baron Butler of Brockwell, of Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth.

He was a non-executive Director of HSBC Group from 1998 to 2008. He was also Chairman of the Corporate Sustainability Committee and the HSBC Global Education Trust. In 2011 he was elected Master of the Worshipful Company of Salters. He is a Trustee of the Royal Academy of Music.

In 2004, Lord Butler chaired the Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction, widely known as the 'Butler Review', which reviewed the use of intelligence in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq War. The report concluded that some of the intelligence about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction was seriously flawed. The report also concluded, with regards to the so-called Niger uranium forgeries, that the report Saddam's government was seeking uranium in Africa appeared 'well-founded'.

Honours and arms

Honours

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO), 1986 New Year Honours
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), 1988 New Year Honours
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), 1992 Birthday Honours
Life peerage, 12 February 1998
Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG), 23 April 2003
Privy Counsellor (PC), 2004

Arms

Coat of arms of Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell
	Notes Butler was granted armorial bearings 10 December 2003. Adopted 2003 Coronet Coronet of a Baron Crest Out of a Well a demi Badger Azure the head Argent and eye-stripes Azure. Torse Mantling Or and Azure. Escutcheon Azure a Cross flory and parted Or between four Covered Cups bases inwards Argent. Supporters On either side a Lion Argent armed and langued Azure and holding in the interior forepaw a Lymphad flags flying Or. Motto SERVIRE ET SERVARE Latin: Serve and maintain Orders The Order of the Garter; The Order of the Bath; The Royal Victorian Order Banner The banner of the Baron Butler of Brockwell's arms used as Knight Companion of the Garter depicted at St George's Chapel. Badge A Martlet close Azure beaked and enfiling a Coronet Or. Symbolism The cross and martlet refer to University College, Oxford. The covered cups refer to the arms used by various families with the name of Butler. The badger (a brock) and the well refer to Brockwell in the peerage title of The Lord Butler of Brockwell.

References

^ BBC News Profile: Lord Butler of Brockwell
^ Salt Talk issue 9 (2011) p6 "The Master"
D. R. Thorpe (2011) "Supermac – the Life of Harold MacMillan" Random House, ISBN 1844135411, page 751
^ "No. 54993". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1997. p. 1.
^ "No. 55047". The London Gazette. 18 February 1998. p. 1911.
^ "No. 24350". The Edinburgh Gazette. 20 February 1998. p. 419.
"Governing Body". Royal Academy of Music.
The Daily Telegraph, 18 September 2011, p.16.
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Butler of Brockwell (14 July 2004). HC 898: Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction (PDF) (Report). London: The Stationery Office. p. 137. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
"No. 50361". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1985. p. 4.
"No. 51171". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1987. p. 3.
"No. 52952". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 1992. p. 3.
"No. 56915". The London Gazette. 23 April 2003. p. 5017.
"The Arms of The Right Honourable Baron Butler of Brockwell, K.G., G.C.B., C.V.O., P.C." College of Arms. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2022.

External links

Government offices
Preceded byClive Whitmore	Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister 1982–1985	Succeeded byNigel Wicks
Preceded bySir Robert Armstrong	Cabinet Secretary & Head of the Home Civil Service 1988–1998	Succeeded bySir Richard Wilson
Academic offices
Preceded byJohn Albery	Master of University College, Oxford 1998–2008	Succeeded bySir Ivor Crewe
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded byThe Lord Hattersley	Gentlemen Baron Butler of Brockwell	Followed byThe Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate

v t e Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
Benjamin Disraeli	Montagu Corry (1868; 1874–1880) Charles William Fremantle (1868)
William Gladstone	(Sir) Algernon West (1868–1872; 1892–1894) Arthur Godley (1880–1882) Edward Walter Hamilton (1882–1885)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	The Marquess of Granby (1885–1888) Schomberg Kerr McDonnell (1888–1892; 1895–1902)
Archibald Primrose	George Murray (1894–1895)
Arthur Balfour	John Satterfield Sandars (1902–1905)
Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Arthur Ponsonby (1905–1908)
H. H. Asquith	Vaughan Nash (1908–1911) Maurice Bonham-Carter (1911–1916)
David Lloyd George	Sir John T. Davies (1916–1922) Sir Edward Grigg (1921–1922)
Bonar Law	Sir Patrick Gower (1922–1923) Sir Ronald Waterhouse (1922–1923)
Stanley Baldwin	Sir Patrick Gower (1923–1928) Sir Ronald Waterhouse (1923–1928) Robert Vansittart (1928–1929) Harold Vincent (1935–1936) Osmund Cleverly (1935–1937)
Ramsay MacDonald	Sir Patrick Gower (1924) Sir Ronald Waterhouse (1924) Robert Vansittart (1929–1930) Sir Patrick Duff (1930–1933) Alan Barlow (1933–1934) Harold Vincent (1934–1935)
Neville Chamberlain	Osmund Cleverly (1937–1939) Arthur Rucker (1939–1940)
Winston Churchill	Eric Seal (1940–1941) John Martin (1941–1945) Leslie Rowan (1945) Jock Colville (1951–1955) David Pitblado (1951–1955)
Clement Attlee	Leslie Rowan (1945–1947) Laurence Helsby (1947–1950) Denis Rickett (1950–1951) David Pitblado (1951)
Anthony Eden	David Pitblado (1955–1956) Frederick Bishop (1956–1957)
Harold Macmillan	Frederick Bishop (1957–1959) Timothy Bligh (1959–1963)
Alec Douglas-Home	Timothy Bligh (1963–1964)
Harold Wilson	Derek Mitchell (1964–1966) Michael Halls (1966–1970) Alexander Isserlis (1970) Robert Armstrong (1974–1975) Kenneth Stowe (1975–1976)
Edward Heath	Alexander Isserlis (1970) Robert Armstrong (1970–1974)
James Callaghan	Kenneth Stowe (1976–1979)
Margaret Thatcher	Kenneth Stowe (1979) Clive Whitmore (1979–1982) Robin Butler (1982–1985) Nigel Wicks (1985–1988) Andrew Turnbull (1988–1990)
John Major	Andrew Turnbull (1990–1992) Alex Allan (1992–1997)
Tony Blair	Alex Allan (1997) Sir John Holmes (1997–1999) Jeremy Heywood (1999–2003) Ivan Rogers (2003–2006) Olly Robbins (2006–2007)
Gordon Brown	Olly Robbins (2007) Tom Scholar (2007–2008) Sir Jeremy Heywood (2008–2010)
David Cameron	James Bowler (2010–2011) Chris Martin (2011–2015) Simon Case (2015–2016)
Theresa May	Simon Case (2016–2017) Peter Hill (2017–2019)
Boris Johnson	Peter Hill (2019) Martin Reynolds (2019–2022) Peter Wilson (2022)
Liz Truss	Nick Catsaras (2022)
Rishi Sunak Keir Starmer	Elizabeth Perelman (2022–)

v t e Members of the Butler Review
Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell (chairman) Sir John Chilcot Peter Inge, Baron Inge Ann Taylor Michael Mates

Members of the Butler Review

Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell (chairman)

v t e Cabinet secretaries of the United Kingdom
Colonel Maurice Hankey Sir Edward Bridges Sir Norman Brook Sir Burke Trend Sir John Hunt Sir Robert Armstrong Sir Robin Butler Sir Richard Wilson Sir Andrew Turnbull Sir Gus O'Donnell Sir Jeremy Heywood Sir Mark Sedwill Simon Case

v t e Heads of the Home Civil Service
Sir Warren Fisher Sir Horace Wilson Sir Richard Hopkins Sir Edward Bridges Sir Norman Brook Sir Laurence Helsby Sir William Armstrong Sir Douglas Allen Sir Robert Armstrong* Sir Robin Butler* Sir Richard Wilson* Sir Andrew Turnbull* Sir Gus O'Donnell* Sir Bob Kerslake Sir Jeremy Heywood* Sir Mark Sedwill* Simon Case*
*Also Cabinet Secretary

v t e Current members of the Order of the Garter
Sovereign	The King (ex officio)
Royal Knights and Ladies (Companion)	The Duke of Kent The Princess Royal The Duke of Gloucester Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy The Duke of York The Duke of Edinburgh The Prince of Wales (ex officio) The Queen The Duchess of Gloucester
Stranger Knights and Ladies Companion	Queen Margrethe II of Denmark The King of Sweden King Juan Carlos I of Spain Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands Emperor Akihito of Japan The King of Norway The King of Spain The King of the Netherlands The Emperor of Japan
Knights and Ladies Companion	The Duke of Abercorn The Lord Butler of Brockwell Sir John Major The Lord Luce Sir Thomas Dunne The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers The Lord Stirrup The Baroness Manningham-Buller The Lord King of Lothbury The Lord Shuttleworth Lady Mary Fagan The Viscount Brookeborough Lady Mary Peters The Marquess of Salisbury The Baroness Amos Sir Tony Blair The Baroness Ashton of Upholland The Lord Patten of Barnes The Lord Peach The Lord Kakkar The Lord Lloyd-Webber 3 vacancies
Officers	Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Winchester (Prelate, ex officio) The Baroness Manningham-Buller (Chancellor) Dr Christopher Cocksworth, Dean of Windsor (Register, ex officio) David White (Garter King of Arms, ex officio) Stephen Segrave (Secretary) Sarah Clarke (Black Rod, ex officio)

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