The recent release of Baroness Thatcher’s private papers show that she was hoping to appoint Cecil Parkinson as the new foreign secretary and her colleague Geoffrey Howe as home secretary, before details emerged of an affair between Parkinson and his former secretary Sara Keays.

The Churchill College Archives have decided to release the files, which were compiled by the Baroness in 1983, on the thirtieth anniversary of the election year that propelled her to power for a second term in government. While the politician’s private notes reveal her intentions to promote Parkinson, the fact that she kept this information a secret concerned her advisers. Following the night in June 1983 when the Conservatives secured a 144-seat majority, the revelation that the party leader was planning to bestow a senior government post onto Parkinson surprised many of Thatcher’s closest aides.

The former Prime Minister’s chief of staff, David Wolfson, cautioned her against promoting Parkinson, claiming that “a position of immense power” might not be suitable for a man who had not yet held a previous high-profile position in the cabinet. Despite the warnings of her aides, Thatcher went on to offer the position of foreign secretary to Parkinson, only reconsidering when she learned of his affair with Keays.

In light of this information, she appointed him as trade and industry secretary, a decision which was supported by Wolfson, who declared that "Cecil might well be ideal at Industry. He is an accountant and could cope with the problem of controlling nationalised industries, as well as having good contacts with industrialists through his years as chairman.”

After receiving a letter from Keays’ father which mentioned that his daughter was expecting Parkinson’s child and that the couple intended to marry, Baroness Thatcher had since remarked in her memoirs that “it must have been one of the worst moments of his life. It was immediately obvious I could not send Cecil to the Foreign Office with such a cloud hanging over him.”

She goes on to add that while she did not consider Parkinson’s affair to be an “insuperable” obstacle, she “urged him to discuss the personal question with his family” whilst having lunch with Parkinson on June 8th1983, the day after the Conservatives’ landslide election victory.

Allen Packer, the director of the archives at Churchill College, told Varsity that "the papers provide valuable insights into the mechanics of running a Government, managing the many personalities that make up the Cabinet, and responding to unexpected scandals and crises. They can be freely consulted by appointment in the Churchill Archives Centre. Aspiring Prime Ministers are most welcome to come along."