Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister Bonar Law's Parliamentary Private Secretary, J.C.C. Davidson acted in effect as his Chief of Staff. Margaret Thatcher's downfall from the Conservative Party leadership in 1990 is attributed by many to the actions of her Parliamentary Private Secretary, Peter Morrison, in failing accurately to count votes amongst Conservative backbenchers. Some Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister go on to hold higher office; Lord Dunglass served as Parliamentary Private Secretary under Neville Chamberlain and later went on to serve as Prime Minister in his own right. There can be multiple Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister at a given time.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Prime Minister's powers and relationships with other institutions still largely continue to derive from ancient royal prerogatives and historic and modern constitutional conventions. Prime Ministers continue to hold the position of First Lord of the Treasury and, since November 1968, that of Minister for the Civil Service, the latter giving them authority over the civil service. Under this arrangement, Britain might appear to have two executives: the Prime Minister and the Sovereign. The concept of "the Crown" resolves this paradox. The Crown symbolises the state's authority to govern: to make laws and execute them, impose taxes and collect them, declare