Cabinet of the United Kingdom Minister to attend Cabinet meetings on a regular basis, notably Alastair Campbell in his capacity as Director of Communications and Strategy between 1997 and 2003, and Jonathan Powell, the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, under Tony Blair, with a distinctly separate role from the Cabinet Secretary/Head of the Civil Service. A photograph is taken of each new Cabinet in the garden or drawing room at 10 Downing Street. The Cabinet meets on a regular basis, usually weekly on a Thursday morning notionally to discuss the most important issues of government policy, and to make decisions. Despite the custom
Stephen Carter, Baron Carter of Barnes what was a newly created position. He resigned from the role in January 2008 to join the administration of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. At that time, he also stepped down as a commissioner of the UK Commission for Employment & Skills and non-executive director of Royal Mail Holdings and Travis Perkins. He returned to public life in January 2008 as chief of strategy and principal advisor for Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Serving as Brown's Downing Street Chief of Staff, he was given responsibility for running political strategy, research, communications, and the Policy Unit. Carter was subsequently appointed Brown's communications minister