Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster

The Right Honourable The Lord Armstrong of Ilminster GCB CVO
Official portrait, 2018
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 26 February 1988 – 3 April 2020 Life peerage
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
In office 1970–1975
Prime Minister	Edward Heath Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Alexander Isserlis
Succeeded by	Kenneth Stowe
Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office
In office 1977–1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	Sir Arthur Peterson
Succeeded by	Brian Cubbon
Cabinet Secretary
In office 1979–1987
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Sir John Hunt
Succeeded by	Sir Robin Butler
Head of the Home Civil Service
In office 1981–1987
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Sir Douglas Allen
Succeeded by	Sir Robin Butler
Chancellor of the University of Hull
In office 1994 – 12 April 2006
Preceded by	Richard Wilberforce
Succeeded by	Virginia Bottomley
Personal details
Born	Robert Temple Armstrong (1927-03-30)30 March 1927 Headington, Oxford, England
Died	3 April 2020(2020-04-03) (aged 93) Ashill, Somerset, England
Political party	None (crossbencher)
Spouses	Serena Mary Benedicta ​ ​ (m. 1953, divorced)​ Mary Patricia Carlow ​ ​ (m. 1985)​
Relations	Sir Thomas H. W. Armstrong (father)
Children	2
Education	Dragon School Eton College
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Occupation	Civil servant

Robert Temple Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster, GCB, CVO (30 March 1927 – 3 April 2020) was a British civil servant and life peer.^[1]

Armstrong was born on 30 March 1927, the only son of the musician Sir Thomas H. W. Armstrong and his wife (married in 1926) Hester Muriel, daughter of Rev. W. H. Draper, at one time vicar of Adel, Leeds.^[2] He had one sister.^[3][4]

Armstrong was educated at the Dragon School and then at Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar, following which he went up to Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Greats.^[5]

In a long civil service career, Armstrong worked in several departments, including HM Treasury and the Home Office. From 1970 to 1975 he served as the Principal Private Secretary to Prime Ministers Edward Heath and Harold Wilson. He was knighted in 1978. From 1979 to 1987, he served as Cabinet Secretary under Margaret Thatcher.^[6]

Armstrong was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1974,^[7] a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 1975 Birthday Honours.^[8] In the 1978 Birthday Honours he was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)^[9] and to Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in the 1983 New Year Honours.^[10]

In 1986, Armstrong was the key witness for the British Government as it sought to suppress the publication of Spycatcher, in which it alleged its author, Peter Wright, had attempted to disclose confidential information. At the time Wright was a retired high-ranking member of MI5 and was about to publish his book in Australia. The evidence given by Armstrong was widely ridiculed by the British press for its absurd ambiguity and seemingly deceptive nature. Wright's lawyer, Malcolm Turnbull, who later became the Prime Minister of Australia, was ultimately successful in lifting the publication ban. Turnbull described Armstrong as being like "Sir Humphrey Appleby" from Yes Minister and said "If he is an honest man, then he appears rather like a well-educated mushroom".^[11]

He is credited with bringing the phrase "economical with the truth" into popular usage, after he used it during the Spycatcher trial in 1986; his use of the phrase was subsequently included in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.^[12]

He was created a life peer as Baron Armstrong of Ilminster, of Ashill in the County of Somerset, on 26 February 1988,^[13] and sat as a crossbencher.^{[citation needed]}

From 1994 to 2006, Lord Armstrong was Chancellor of the University of Hull. He was chairman of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation until 2013.^[5]

Armstrong was aware of Sir Peter Hayman's paedophilia, and after leaving office, commented "Clearly, I was aware of it at the time but I was not concerned with the personal aspect of it."^[14]

Armstrong gave Margaret Thatcher what he called a "veiled" warning not to sanction Jimmy Savile's knighthood for charitable work,^[15] due to allegations around his "misbehaviour with women (though not allegations of child abuse)".^[16]

Armstrong has been portrayed by the following actors in film and television productions:

• Rupert Vansittart in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's controversial The Falklands Play.^[17]
• Timothy West in the 2004 BBC production of The Alan Clark Diaries.^[18]

On 25 July 1953, Armstrong married Serena Mary Benedicta Chance, daughter of Sir Roger James Ferguson Chance, and Mary Georgina Rowney. Armstrong and his wife had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and in 1985 he married Mary Patricia Carlow, daughter of Charles Cyril Carlow.^[5][19]

Armstrong died at his home in Ashill, Somerset,^[20] on 3 April 2020 at the age of 93.^[21][22][23]

• (1997). The Future of the National Art Library: A Pamphlet Concerning the Victoria and Albert Museum's Responsibility Towards the Documentation of the History of Art and Design

• Baron Armstrong

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Portraits of Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster at the National Portrait Gallery, London