The Secretary for Appointments in 10 Downing Street is one of least-known officials working behind the famous black door. He (all holders of the post have been male) handles many ecclesiastical and other Crown appointments made by the monarch, but on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Secretary’s task is to find suitable candidates for deaneries, bishoprics and the two archbishoprics in the Church of England, as well as names for Regius professorships, the Poet Laureate, the Astronomer Royal and, in conjunction with the Lord Chancellor’s office, judges.

Patronage, the power of appointment, has been one of the most important resources of the Prime Minister. Traditionally, he or she was advised by a member of the small private office (four or five civil servants). In 1947 the duties were hived off to a separate section and the secretary was a civil servant. Few have held the post with such distinction as Sir Robin Catford under Margaret Thatcher and John Major. He and John Hewitt, who served from 1961 to 1972, held the post for the longest amount of time.

Catford’s appointment to succeed Colin Peterson as Thatcher’s appointments secretary in 1982 was, in his own words, “a surprise”. He had no outstanding record of dealing with the Establishment. His background was in agriculture, in which subject he had taken a degree at the University of St Andrews and a diploma at St John’s College, Cambridge.

He then served with the Colonial Service in the Sudan for nine years, worked in private industry and joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1966. By 1979 he had risen to be an under-secretary and was probably contemplating retirement. The nature of the post had changed with the establishment of the Crown Appointments Commission, which meant that in relation to the posts of diocesan bishops and other appointments the patronage secretary had to work in close tandem with the Archbishops’ appointments secretary.

Catford was 59 when he was appointed and, like most holders of the post, he had personal links with the Church of England — in his case as a member of the Chichester Diocesan Synod and churchwarden of his evangelical parish church. His job was to collect and weigh the gossip, submissions and various soundings about potential candidates. The task called for discretion, diplomacy and judgment. He retained the confidence of those who gave advice, but consulted a much smaller circle of people than his predecessor. If someone questioned a proposed appointment he fiercely defended the Prime Minister’s prerogative. It was not his fault that in a few cases those he canvassed chose to advertise that their views had been sought.

He concentrated on appointments to senior church posts, Regius professorships and lords lieutenant and was involved in the appointment of Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate. Much of his time was spent on ecclesiastical appointments, but the process had become more fraught in view of divisions in the Church of England and perceptions that Thatcher favoured its evangelical wing.

To begin with, Thatcher left him alone, but after the appointment of David Jenkins as Bishop of Durham she began to take much more interest, and Catford was known to push people whom she favoured. During his time he was involved in the appointment of almost every deanery and a large number of bishoprics. Catford saw senior church appointments going in two directions; either to bishoprics or deaneries, with the result that very few bishops knew anything about cathedrals. Appointments to deaneries did not involve diocesan representation, and some proved very contentious. This became a factor in the subsequent review of cathedrals conducted by the Howe Commission. When a new archbishop was being appointed, he played a leading role in preventing candidates most favoured by the consultation process being appointed.

All staff in No 10 compete for the attention of a hard-pressed Prime Minister. Because Catford’s office was situated on the first floor of the building and overlooked the front entrance, he was able to see when the Prime Minister’s car returned and nip down the stairs and, politely, accost Thatcher or Major as they entered the building.

Catford’s other responsibility was looking after the structure and furnishing of No 10 and other official residences such as Chequers and Dorneywood. This proved onerous because of a major refurbishment, particularly of the staterooms, under Thatcher.

Unusually he did not retire until the age of 70, and was the only holder of the post to receive a knighthood. In retirement he worked for the Radcliffe Trust as adviser in relation to grants for works of craftsmanship.

He married Daphne Darby in 1948. She died in 2005. They had three sons and a daughter who survive them.

Sir Robin Catford, CBE, Secretary for Appointments 1982-1993, was born on January 11, 1923. He died on May 25, 2008, aged 85