Number 10 Policy Unit
The Number 10 Policy Unit is an elite body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone through a series of guises to suit the needs of successive prime ministers, staffed variously by political advisers, civil servants and more recently a combination of both.
The Coalition Government of May 2010 quickly disbanded two major parts of central infrastructure built by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit and Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, as part of the Prime Minister's agenda to reduce the number of special advisers and end the micromanagement of Whitehall. In their place, a strengthened Policy and Implementation Unit was launched in early 2011 by the Cabinet Secretary, staffed wholly by civil servants and reporting jointly to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister under joint heads Paul Kirby and Kris Murrin.
Members of the Policy Unit in 2010 were Gavin Lockhart-Mirams, Sean Worth, Chris Brown, Richard Freer, Tim Luke, Michael Lynas and Ben Moxham. The Unit is supported by the Research and Analytics Unit.
The current Director of the Policy Unit is Munira Mirza, a former Deputy Mayor of London for Culture and Education under Boris Johnson. She replaced James Marshall on 24 July 2019.List of Policy Directors
| # | Policy Director | Years | Prime Minister |
| 1 | Bernard Donoughue | 1974–1979 | |
| 2 | John Hoskyns | 1979–1982 | Margaret Thatcher |
| 3 | Ferdinand Mount | 1982–1983 | Margaret Thatcher |
| 4 | John Redwood | 1983–1985 | Margaret Thatcher |
| 5 | Brian Griffiths | 1985–1990 | Margaret Thatcher |
| 6 | Sarah Hogg | 1990–1995 | John Major |
| 7 | Norman Blackwell | 1995–1997 | John Major |
| 8 | David Miliband | 1997–2001 | Tony Blair |
| 9 | Andrew Adonis | 2001–2003 | Tony Blair |
| 10 | Geoff Mulgan | 2003–2004 | Tony Blair |
| 11 | Matthew Taylor | 2005 | Tony Blair |
| 12 | David Bennett | 2005–2007 | Tony Blair |
| 13 | Dan Corry | 2007–2008 | Gordon Brown |
| 14 | Nick Pearce | 2008–2010 | Gordon Brown |
| 15 | Paul Kirby | 2011–2013 | David Cameron |
| 16 | Jo Johnson | 2013–2015 | David Cameron |
| 17 | Camilla Cavendish | 2015–2016 | David Cameron |
| 18 | John Godfrey | 2016–2017 | Theresa May |
| 19 | James Marshall | 2017–2019 | Theresa May |
| 19 | Munira Mirza | 2019– | Boris Johnson |
