Foreign Secretaries: The evolution of the role across the Twentieth Century

Ted Morris is coming to Portsmouth Guildhall on Tuesday 8 December to talk about the evolution of the Foreign Secretary's role across the twentieth century. It's part of the Portsmouth Historical Association's 2026/27 series, and the lecture starts at 7pm, finishing no later than 8.30pm in Room 1.09 of the Park Building on King Henry I Street.

Morris is the author of Managing Decline: British Foreign Secretaries of the Twentieth Century, which came out earlier this year. The talk traces how the role changed over the course of the century, looking at both the political standing of the person in the post and Britain's shifting place in the world. He draws on the experiences of the thirty-one men who held the office, so it's a broad sweep of the century rather than a focus on just one or two names.

There's a local angle, too. Morris gives particular attention to James Callaghan, Portsmouth's own boy, whose time as Foreign Secretary has been a generally overlooked period in a long and eventful ministerial career. If you've followed Callaghan's life, this is a chance to see a part of it that doesn't usually get much airtime.

On the practical side, it's £4 for the lecture, or £20 for all the talks in the series from October to May; students and Historical Association members pay nothing. There's no booking needed, so you just turn up on the night.