[2] For 50 years it occupied its own premises in Old Queen Street overlooking St James's Park, but after the 1979 election, Margaret Thatcher united it physically with the rest of the Party's Central Office.
When Margaret Thatcher became Conservative Party leader in 1975, the CRD organised a full policy review to be co-ordinated by Sir Keith Joseph which preceded her election as prime minister.
[4] In 1989, the CRD co-funded a trip of David Cameron and other Conservative researchers to South Africa while under apartheid rule, alongside the Strategy Network International, which was created in 1985 to lobby against anti-apartheid sanctions.
Under David Cameron the CRD was reorganised; in June 2006, Desk Officers were retitled as Special Advisers to the Shadow Cabinet and relocated to the House of Commons, while the enlarged political section and policy secretariat remained at Campaign HQ.
1930-1939: Sir Joseph Ball 1939-1945: Post vacant 1945-1951: David Clarke 1948-1950: Henry Hopkinson 1948-1959: Percy Cohen 1951-1964: Michael Fraser 1964-1970: Brendan Sewill 1970-1974: James Douglas 1974-1979: Chris Patten 1979-1982: Alan Howarth 1982-1984: Peter Cropper 1985-1989: Robin Harris 1990-1995: Andrew Lansley 1995-1998: Daniel Finkelstein 1999-2003: Rick Nye 2003-2005: Greg Clark 2005-2006: John Glen 2006-2007: George Bridges 2007-2010: James O'Shaughnessy[6] 2010-2013: Nick Park[7] 2013-2015: Alex Dawson[8] 2015-2017: Andrew Goodfellow 2017-2019: Adam Memon 2019-2021: Iain Carter[9] 2021-2023: Ross Kempsell[10] 2023- : Marcus Natale