National Security Adviser (United Kingdom)

The National Security Adviser (NSA) is a senior official in the Cabinet Office, based in Whitehall, who serves as the principal adviser to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Cabinet of the United Kingdom on all national security issues. The NSA post was created in May 2010 as part of the reforms that also saw the creation of the National Security Council. There have been six holders of the office to date, of whom two served more than three years in the post.

The NSA is Secretary to the National Security Council, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, and head of National Security and Intelligence (National Security Secretariat), which is, in turn, part of the Cabinet Office. The NSA will also advise Secretaries of State and other senior government ministers on issues of national security when necessary. The NSA was the Senior Responsible Officer for the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, with a budget of over £1 billion. This role has been passed to the Deputy National Security Adviser.

The first National Security Adviser (NSA) of the United Kingdom was Sir Peter Ricketts, who was previously Permanent Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. Ricketts was succeeded by Sir Kim Darroch in January 2012. On 7 July 2015, it was announced that Sir Mark Lyall Grant would replace Darroch as National Security Adviser in early September 2015.

It was announced in June 2020 that Mark Sedwill will step down from his role as NSA in September, and that current chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, will serve as the NSA. A FOI answer however, states that Frost continues as Chief Negotiator to the EU as of October 2020 and David Quarrey took over the role of acting NSA provisionally.

The NSA is supported by at least two Deputy National Security Advisers, and serves at the pleasure of the Prime Minister.

Responsibilities
The National Security Adviser is the principal official adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on national security matters. The responsibilities include:


 * Providing advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on national security. This includes strategy, policy, capability and civil contingencies.
 * Acting as Secretary to the National Security Council.
 * Leadership to and management of the national security teams in the Cabinet Office.
 * Bringing together the wider national security community across Whitehall and our overseas network.
 * Cultivating and maintaining a network of international stakeholders as well as contacts with relevant counterparts, businesses, industry and civil society groups.

List of Deputy National Security Advisers
There can be more than one DNSA at one time; some DNSA's are given specific titles referring to their specific remit.


 * 1) Julian Miller (2010–2015)
 * 2) Olly Robbins (2010–2014)
 * 3) Hugh Powell (2013–2016)
 * 4) Paddy McGuinness (2014–2018)
 * 5) Gwyn Jenkins (2015–2017)
 * 6) Christian Turner (2017–2019)
 * 7) Richard Moore (2018)
 * 8) Madeleine Alessandri (2018–2020)
 * 9) David Quarrey (2019–2022)
 * 10) Beth Sizeland (2020–2021)
 * 11) Alex Ellis (2020–2021)
 * 12) Andrew McCosh (2021–present) (Technology)
 * 13) Sarah MacIntosh (2022–present) (International Affairs)
 * 14) Matt Collins (2022–present) (Intelligence, Defence and Security)