Catherine Fall, Baroness Fall
Catherine Susan "Kate" Fall, Baroness Fall is a British political advisor, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff for David Cameron, the former prime minister. She was nominated for a life peerage in August 2015.[1]
Early life
One of identical twins,[2] she is the daughter of Sir Brian Fall, the former British Ambassador to Moscow during the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. She was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and met Cameron whilst studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda's College, Oxford.[3]
Career
She worked with George Osborne at the Conservative Research Department,[4] thereby becoming part of the Notting Hill set.[5] Fall acted as Cameron's advisor for his first election campaign in 2001 in the rural-Oxfordshire parliamentary constituency of Witney.[6] She then worked in Michael Howard's business liaison unit during his Leadership of the Conservative Party and as Leader of the Opposition,[5] before becoming a director of the think-tank The Atlantic Partnership.[2] She then became Cameron's private office secretary after he was elected to replace Howard as the Leader of the Conservative Party.
On Cameron's election to 10 Downing Street in May 2010, he appointed Conservative advisor Edward Llewellyn Downing Street Chief of Staff. Cameron also created the role of Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff, with responsibility for supporting the Chief of Staff, which was given to Fall.[7] On a salary of £100,000,[8] Fall was ranked within the top 100 most influential people in London in 2011.[9] Briefed to keep Cameron "punctual and punctilious", she is nicknamed "The Gatekeeper".[10]
In March 2020 Fall published a memoir of her time in government, "The Gatekeeper: Life At The Heart Of Number 10".[11]
Honours
On 22 October 2015, she was created Baroness Fall, of Ladbroke Grove in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, for life.[12]
Family
Fall married arts and property businessman Ralph Ward-Jackson at Chelsea Old Church in 1996.[13] The couple have two children and lived in South Kensington, London,[14] but are currently separated.[13]
References
- "Dissolution Peerages 2015". Gov.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- Nicole Lampert (30 September 2010). "TEAM Sam Cam; Her style may seem effortless. But that's not quite the whole story". Daily Mail. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- Andrew Rawnsley (5 July 2009). "Oh no. Not another one who wants to be in the West Wing". The Observer. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- Alex Barker (23 February 2010). "How Cameron emerged from the shadows". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- "Cameron's inner circle". Daily Telegraph. 1 October 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- Tim Walker (3 January 2012). "Rebekah Brooks is left out in the cold at David Cameron's New Year's party". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- Rogers, Simon (13 June 2010). "Government special advisers: the full list as a spreadsheet". The Guardian. London.
- Christopher Hope (17 July 2012). "Number of special advisers employed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg soars". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- "London's 1000 most influential people 2011: Politics". London Evening Standard. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- Ed Caeser (10 December 2005). "Dave's babes: the women in Cameron's inner circle". The Independent. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- Robert Shrimsley (23 March 2020). "The Gatekeeper: Life At The Heart Of Number 10". The Financial Times. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- "No. 61393". The London Gazette. 28 October 2015. p. 21142.
- "Cameron's top aide and husband split". Daily Mail. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- Black Dog (19 August 2012). "BLACK DOG: Artful dodging by No 10's Kate". Daily Mail. Retrieved 19 August 2012.