What phrase is derived from the promotion by the Prime-Minister, Lord Salisbury, of his nephew A.J.Balfour to the post of Chief Secretary for Ireland?
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury prime minister of his lifetime. Attlee immediately replied: "Salisbury". The 6th Marquess of Salisbury commissioned Andrew Roberts to write Salisbury's authorised biography, which was published in 1999. After the Bering Sea Arbitration, Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Sparrow David Thompson said of Lord Salisbury's acceptance of the Arbitration Treaty that it was "one of the worst acts of what I regard as a very stupid and worthless life". The British phrase 'Bob's your uncle' is thought to have derived from Robert Cecil's appointment of his nephew, Arthur Balfour, as Chief Secretary for Ireland. Fort Salisbury (now Harare) was named in
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.