Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)

Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the title of the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The CDS is based at the Ministry of Defence and works alongside the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the ministry's senior civil servant. The CDS is the highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the armed forces.

Constitutionally, the sovereign is the de jure commander-in-chief of the armed forces. However, in practice, the Government of the United Kingdom exercises the royal prerogative de facto and provides direction of the armed forces through the Ministry of Defence's Defence Council, of which the CDS is a member.

The current CDS is Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, who succeeded Admiral Sir Tony Radakin in September 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Chiefs of the defence staff are appointed on the recommendation of the secretary of state for defence to the prime minister, before being approved by the monarch.<ref name="MOD_accounts" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the CDS include:

• leading defence (with the Permanent Secretary (Perm Sec))
• setting strategy for defence, including the future development of the Armed Forces (subject to ministers’ direction, and together with Perm Sec)
• the conduct of current operations (as strategic commander)
• leading relationships with other countries’ Armed Forces<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Supporting and associated posts

The CDS is supported by a deputy, the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, who since 1997 (when the CDS post was downgraded) has been of equivalent rank but is ordinarily from a different service to the CDS.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There are also several Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (DCDS) posts who support the VCDS. As of 2015, these are:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) (DCDS (MSO))
• Chief of Defence People (CDP)
• Deputy Chief of Defence Staff for Military Capability (DCDS (Mil Cap))

The CDS maintains a close working relationship with the Ministry of Defence's Permanent Under-Secretary, who is the Ministry's senior civil servant, and they both report directly to the Secretary of State for Defence. The CDS focuses on military operations and strategy, while the Permanent Under-Secretary's remit concerns administrative and financial policy.

Additionally, the CDS is supported by a Strategic Advisory Panel.<ref name="kclbio">Template:Cite news</ref>

History of the post

The post was created in 1959 to reflect the new concept of joint operations that had come to the fore in the Second World War. The first incumbent was Marshal of the RAF Sir William Dickson. Prior to the creation of the post, he had served as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, from 1956 onwards. Before 1956, although no permanent post of chairman existed, the three service chiefs took it in turn to act as chairman at meetings. From the post's inception until the mid-to-late 1970s, CDS appointments were granted on a strict rotational basis between the three services. The first break in rotational order was precipitated by the death of Marshal of the RAF Sir Andrew Humphrey.

From the creation of the post until 1997, the Chief of the Defence Staff was appointed to the highest rank in the respective branch of the British armed forces to which he belonged, being an admiral of the Fleet, a field marshal or marshal of the Royal Air Force, (NATO rank grade OF-10). However, with the post-Cold War reduction in the manpower strength of the British Armed Forces and the additional reasoning that no new "Five-star" appointments are to be made in peacetime, since 1997 the Chief of the Defence Staff has kept the rank of admiral, general or air chief marshal, (NATO OF-9), which he invariably already holds. However, during the 2010s Charles Guthrie, Michael Boyce, Michael Walker and Jock Stirrup were honorarily promoted to their respective services' senior ranks, sometime after they had each stepped down as CDS. Although there is no policy against a Royal Marines officer being appointed, few officers in the Corps attain a high enough rank to be considered for the post. However, in 2016, a Royal Marine officer Gordon Messenger was promoted to the rank of general and appointed as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. With the implementation of the Defence Reforms in April 2025, the CDS is also in charge of the Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ), commanding the four service chiefs and in charge of force design and equipment delivery to the armed forces.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The CDS will also command the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) and the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Force Development).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

List of Chiefs of the Defence Staff (1959–present)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $nextyear = 01/01/{{#expr: 2026 + 1}}

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1955 till:$nextyear TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1955

Define $now = 27/04/2026

Colors =

 id:RN   value:darkblue legend: RN
 id:BA   value:red      legend: Army
 id:RAF  value:skyblue  legend: RAF
 id:time value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)

Legend = orientation:vertical position:right

LineData =

 layer:back
 width:0.2
 color:time
 at:01/01/1955
 at:01/01/1960
 at:01/01/1965
 at:01/01/1970
 at:01/01/1975
 at:01/01/1980
 at:01/01/1985
 at:01/01/1990
 at:01/01/1995
 at:01/01/2000
 at:01/01/2005
 at:01/01/2010
 at:01/01/2015
 at:01/01/2020
 at:01/01/2025

BarData =

barset:PM
bar:Dickson
bar:Mountbatten
bar:Hull
bar:Elworthy
bar:Hill-Norton
bar:Carver
bar:Humphrey
bar:Ashmore
bar:Cameron
bar:Lewin
bar:Bramall
bar:Fieldhouse
bar:Craig
bar:Vincent
bar:Harding
bar:Inge
bar:Guthrie
bar:Boyce
bar:Walker
bar:Stirrup
bar:Richards
bar:Houghton
bar:Peach
bar:Carter
bar:Radakin
bar:Knighton

PlotData =

 width:6 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
 barset:PM

bar:Dickson     from: 01/01/1959 till: 12/07/1959 color:RAF text:Dickson
bar:Mountbatten from: 13/07/1959 till: 13/07/1965 color:RN	 text:Mountbatten
bar:Hull        from: 16/07/1965 till: 04/08/1967 color:BA	 text:Hull
bar:Elworthy    from: 04/08/1967 till: 08/04/1971 color:RAF text:Elworthy
bar:Hill-Norton from: 09/04/1971 till: 21/10/1973 color:RN  text:Hill-Norton
bar:Carver      from: 21/10/1973 till: 23/10/1976 color:BA  text:Carver
bar:Humphrey    from: 24/10/1976 till: 24/01/1977 color:RAF text:Humphrey
bar:Ashmore     from: 09/02/1977 till: 30/08/1977 color:RN	 text:Ashmore
bar:Cameron     from: 31/08/1977 till: 31/08/1979 color:RAF text:Cameron
bar:Lewin       from: 01/09/1979 till: 30/09/1982 color:RN  text:Lewin
bar:Bramall     from: 01/10/1982 till: 31/10/1985 color:BA	 text:Bramall
bar:Fieldhouse  from: 01/11/1985 till: 09/12/1988 color:RN	 text:Fieldhouse
bar:Craig       from: 09/12/1988 till: 01/04/1991 color:RAF text:Craig
bar:Vincent     from: 02/04/1991 till: 31/12/1992 color:BA	 text:Vincent
bar:Harding     from: 31/12/1992 till: 13/03/1994 color:RAF text:Harding
bar:Inge        from: 15/03/1994 till: 01/04/1997 color:BA	 text:Inge
bar:Guthrie     from: 02/04/1997 till: 15/02/2001 color:BA	 text:Guthrie
bar:Boyce       from: 16/02/2001 till: 02/05/2003 color:RN	 text:Boyce
bar:Walker      from: 02/05/2003 till: 28/04/2006 color:BA	 text:Walker
bar:Stirrup     from: 28/04/2006 till: 29/10/2010 color:RAF text:Stirrup
bar:Richards    from: 29/10/2010 till: 18/07/2013 color:BA	 text:Richards
bar:Houghton    from: 18/07/2013 till: 14/07/2016 color:BA  text:Houghton
bar:Peach       from: 14/07/2016 till: 11/06/2018 color:RAF text:Peach
bar:Carter      from: 11/06/2018 till: 30/11/2021 color:BA  text:Carter
bar:Radakin     from: 30/11/2021 till: 02/09/2025 color:RN  text:Radakin
bar:Knighton    from: 02/09/2025 till: $now       color:RAF text:Knighton

</timeline>

Peerage

Customarily, former Chiefs of Defence Staff receive a life peerage on retirement,Template:Efn sitting in the House of Lords as non-political crossbench peers. Their appointment is recommended not via the House of Lords Appointments Commission as is normal procedure, but is instead nominated directly to the monarch by the prime minister, who elects to nominate "a limited number of distinguished public servants" on retirement for a peerage. Sir Jock Stirrup was introduced to the House of Lords on 1 February 2010 as Baron Stirrup, of Marylebone in the City of Westminster.<ref name="Stirrup retires">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>House of Lords Business, February 1, 2011</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Head of the British Armed Forces

Sources

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book