David Pitblado


Sir David Bruce Pitblado KCB CVO was a principal private secretary to the office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Serving from 1951 to 1956, he was associated with Prime Ministers Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill, and Anthony Eden. With his colleague Jock Colville, he was one of Churchill's last two principal private secretaries at 10 Downing Street.

Biography

David Pitblado, born in London in August 1912, attended Strand School and then matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He chose the civil service as a career, and was named assistant private secretary to the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in 1937. He joined the War Cabinet Office in 1942, and became an undersecretary for economic planning in the Treasury in 1949. His career trajectory continued and he became the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, in 1951. His service for Attlee was brief, as the Labour prime minister did not retain his majority in the 1951 General Election. Pitblado continued his service to Attlee's replacement, Winston Churchill.
During Churchill's third Government in 1951–1955, the Prime Minister enjoyed uncertain health. The office of Principal Private Secretary to 10 Downing Street was thus of greater importance than usual, and the Government made use of two principal private secretaries. Pitblado informally specialized in home and internal affairs, and his colleague Jock Colville was the centerpiece of these duties with respect to defense and external affairs.
Upon Churchill's stroke in June 1953, functions at 10 Downing Street were carried on by senior staff for some weeks. Churchill biographer Martin Gilbert credits Pitblado, Colville, and Churchill's son-in-law Christopher Soames with supervising the operation of the office while the incapacitated Prime Minister fought toward partial recovery.

After Churchill's retirement in 1955, Pitblado rounded out his service at No 10 with brief service to his successor, Anthony Eden in 1955–1956. He then returned to the ministerial civil service and served in a variety of posts. He became Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Power in 1966–1969, and Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Technology in 1969–1970.

Later life and honours

David Pitblado was listed in the 1953 Coronation Honours, receiving the rank of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. In his capacity as ministerial Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Power, he was again honoured in the 1967 New Year Honours with the designation of Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.