This series describes the contents of the personal filing kept by Margaret Thatcher’s while at No 10 Downing Street and are items which were of particular interest or importance to her. Many of these papers complement or are duplicated in other series. This personal files series was added to after her departure from Downing Street in 1990.
There are some papers from Margaret Thatcher's early political career (1949-), but generally very little before she became Prime Minister in 1979. Almost no personal papers survive from the period 1975-79 when she was Leader of the Opposition. Other papers generated and filed by her office in this period are described elsewhere in the class lists.
The papers have been brought together by the cataloguing archivist in this series under broad topic headings. Papers dating from before 4 May 1979 are generally available for access, see individual catalogue entries under each heading. Later papers are generally closed to researchers, consult cataloguing archivist at Churchill Archives Centre for advice.