Conservative Research Department

The Conservative Research Department (CRD) is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters at 4 Matthew Parker Street, Westminster, London, SW1H 9HQ.

The importance of CRD as a training ground for leading Conservative politicians has been widely acknowledged. Former CRD advisers to have served in the Cabinet include former Prime Minister, David Cameron, former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, Oliver Letwin and former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. After 1945, Enoch Powell, Iain Macleod, Reginald Maudling and Chris Patten all passed through it. The Chairman of the Department (currently CRD alumnus) has a seat in the Cabinet.

CRD was established by Neville Chamberlain in 1929 to undertake detailed policy work for the leader of the Party (then Stanley Baldwin) and his principal colleagues. It was the first real think-tank of the right in British politics. 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.

Until 1940 CRD was in practice virtually the private political property of Neville Chamberlain, furnishing him with policy papers and contributions to his speeches. A tightly knit group of six (who for a time included Frank Pakenham, the future Lord Longford) developed a detailed policy programme for him with a bias toward progressive social measures, including family allowances and better pensions for all.

...
Wikipedia