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.^[1] There have been six holders of the office to date, two of whom served more than three years in the post.^[2] Until 2024, the NSA acted as Secretary to the National Security Council, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, and head of the National Security Secretariat in the Cabinet Office.^[3] Each National Security Adviser has been supported by at least two Deputy National Security Advisers.

National Security Adviser
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Jonathan Powell since 2 December 2024
National Security Secretariat Cabinet Office
Reports to	Prime Minister Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	The King (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	2010
First holder	Sir Peter Ricketts
Deputy	Deputy National Security Adviser (DNSA)

Responsibilities

The National Security Adviser is the principal official adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on national security matters. These responsibilities have included:^[4]

• 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 the UK Government's 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 national security advisers

#	Name	Term start	Term end	Term length	Prime Minister(s) served	Party	Ref
1	Sir Peter Ricketts	12 May 2010	23 January 2012	1 year and 257 days	David Cameron	Conservative
2	Sir Kim Darroch	23 January 2012	7 September 2015	3 years and 228 days
3	Sir Mark Lyall Grant	7 September 2015	13 April 2017	1 year and 219 days
					Theresa May		[5]
4	Sir Mark Sedwill	13 April 2017	16 September 2020	3 years and 157 days
					Boris Johnson		[6]
–	David Quarrey (acting)	17 September 2020	25 March 2021	190 days			[7]
5	Sir Stephen Lovegrove	24 March 2021	13 September 2022	1 year and 174 days			[8]
6	Sir Tim Barrow	14 September 2022	29 November 2024	2 years and 338 days	Liz Truss		[9]
					Rishi Sunak
					Keir Starmer	Labour
7	Jonathan Powell	2 December 2024	Incumbent	259 days			[10]

List of deputy national security advisers

Since the creation of the position of National Security Adviser, there have always been at least two deputy national security advisers.

1. Julian Miller (2010–2015)
2. Olly Robbins (2010–2014)
3. Hugh Powell (2013–2016)
4. Paddy McGuinness (2014–2018) (Intelligence, Security and Resilience)
5. Gwyn Jenkins (2015–2017) (Conflict, Stability and Defence)
6. Christian Turner (2017–2019) (International Affairs)
7. Richard Moore (2018) (Intelligence, Security and Resilience)
8. Madeleine Alessandri (2018–2020) (National Resilience and Security)
9. David Quarrey (2019–2022) (International Affairs)
10. Beth Sizeland (2020–2021) (National Resilience and Security)
11. Alex Ellis (2020–2021) (Integrated Review on diplomacy, development and defence)
12. Andrew McCosh (2021–2022) (Technology)
13. Sarah MacIntosh (2022–2024) (Foreign Affairs)