Lord Michael Forsyth
Beset By The Tyranny Of His Dispatch Boxes!
Michael Forsyth was elected as Member of Parliament for Stirling in 1983. He was appointed Minister of State for Scotland in 1992, serving under two Prime Ministers – Margaret Thatcher & her successor John Major. Under John Major’s premiership, Michael served as Minister of State for Employment (1992-1994) & Minister of State for Home Affairs (1994 -1995). From 1995 to 1997, Michael Forsyth served as Secretary of State for Scotland. In 1997, Michael Forsyth was raised to the peerage becoming, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean.
Lord Forsyth provides a rare & unique glimpse of his work as a Minister & as a Secretary of State. His relationship with his Despatch Boxes is revealing. When he found the photograph for us, which accompanies this short piece, we observed that he looked relaxed with his Box. He commented that he looked relaxed because he had finished working through all the papers contained within!
‘During my 10 years in Government I acquired 5 Red Boxes which I was allowed to keep on leaving each office. All of them have the crown & ER centre stage with the Ministerial post embossed in gold in the red Morocco leather. Only one of them has my name on it together with Minister of State at the Department for Employment. Each one is a work of art, combining beautiful workmanship with robust practicality.
“The Boxes bring back memories of the good & bad times ̋
They are piled up in the corner of my study at home in Scotland & bring back memories of the good and bad times that punctuated my Ministerial career. Their contents covered the fallout from the Lockerbie terrorist attack, the Dunblane massacre, the fight against HIV, BSE & Ecoli, the return of the Stone of Destiny, the setting of tariffs for life prisoners, the battle against Youth Unemployment, Devolution & major Education reforms & policy initiatives.
“Organised by the brilliant civil service ̋
They were my companions into the early hours of the morning sometimes 7 days a week. My days would be filled with meetings & engagements & the policy decisions, correspondence & briefing would be summarised & organised by the brilliant civil service & put in order of urgency in folders in several Boxes. These would be placed in the boot of the Ministerial car taking me home perhaps after a late engagement. The Boxes were the only approved means of conveying highly classified material. I suspect that when David Cameron was criticised in the press for Cycling whilst being followed by his car that the Boxes were the important & essential passengers.
“A Government car coming down my drive a few months later stuffed with Red Boxes. ̋
I confess that when I left Government in 1997 it was with some relief that I was no longer subject to the tyranny of these Boxes in the small hours. At least that is what I thought at the time only to see a Government car coming down my drive a few months later stuffed with Red Boxes. They contained all the material I had seen as Secretary of State for Scotland & as a Health Minister in respect of BSE so that I could brief myself prior to the public inquiry.
“It is not the Minister but the office which matters ̋
Nowadays folk are too ready to attack the Civil Service & the long established means of carrying out Government. There was a paper record of every document I had seen with my hand written comments & responses. The Red Box is a link to the past, a physical reminder that it is not the Minister but the office which matters & that they are there in service to the Crown.’
The Rt hon Lord Forsyth of Drumlean Kt PC
