Красные ящики британских министров: история и традиции

Despatch box for UK government documents

Red boxes, or sometimes ministerial boxes, are a type of despatch box

The boxes are used by ministers on a daily basis while in government and thus become an important memory of their time in office, with many opting to buy and keep their red boxes. Many boxes owned and used by famous political figures from British history have been sold at auction. Those boxes represent some of the most important possessions of former prime ministers. Margaret Thatcher's ministerial dispatch box was sold at auction by Christie's in 2015 for £242,500. Winston Churchill's red box (manufactured by Wickwar) was sold by Sotheby's in 2014 for £158,500, 25 times the estimated price. Red boxes are often given to the outgoing President of the United States as a symbol of the relationship between the US and UK governments. George W. Bush received one such box from Tony Blair.

The boxes are manufactured by Barrow Hepburn & Gale or Wickwar & Co to the original Wickwar design. The boxes are constructed of slow grown pine, lined with lead and black satin. The lead lining, which has been retained in modern boxes, was once meant to ensure that the box sank when thrown overboard in the event of capture. Each box takes three days to finish. They are wrapped in leather and employ a bespoke print, which is applied after curing and staining. Each box is embossed in gold print with the royal cypher of the reigning monarch, the title of the owner and recipient of the red box, with the recipient's title given precedence. Each is also given a unique number to aid identification and control of the contents. Another unique feature of the boxes is the location of the handle on the hinge side, opposite of the lock, so that when placed on a desk, the lock faces the recipient, who has the key and the authority to access the contents of the box. That also ensures the box is locked before being carried.

Two reasons have been given for the use of red as the predominant colour of the despatch boxes used in government. One is that Prince Albert preferred the colour because it was the predominant one on the arms of the House of Saxe Coburg Gotha. Today, although 'red box' has now come to be synonymous with the despatch boxes, and for discretion when boxes are designed for travel. It is not known whether a blue box is in use today.

One box cost £865.43 to make in 2010. Between 2002 and 2007, the British government spent £57,260 on new boxes. Gladstone served as Chancellor of the Exchequer on four occasions and held the post for longer than anyone in the UK's history. 51 chancellors for over 150 years. Gladstone's budget box was used by Alistair Darling (2007–2010) and, for the last time, by George Osborne in June 2010.

Red boxes are delivered to the British sovereign every day (except Christmas Day and Easter Sunday) by government departments, via the page of the presence. The monarch's role as head of state requires being kept abreast of what is happening in Parliament and the governments of all the other Commonwealth countries, as well as current events from around the world. Documents which the monarch must sign and provide royal assent for are delivered in red despatch boxes, which are addressed daily. Many governors general, governors and lieutenant governors in Commonwealth Realms also make use of red boxes.

The Scottish Government has nine blue Cabinet Secretary despatch boxes for its ministers.

Early in the independence of Singapore, ministers had red boxes similar to the British ones, but with the coat of arms of Singapore. Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, formerly principal private secretary to Lee Kuan Yew, revealed in a Facebook post that Lee continued using the red box throughout his life until 4 February 2015, the day before his final hospitalisation.

Traditionally the Minister of Finance used a red wooden box with the national emblem to carry the Cabinet's annual budget plans, similar to the budget box of the British government to symbolise the new budget, containing the minister's speech. In 2022, the Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers produced several red boxes made of red leather designated as "Presidential Dispatch Bag" for the use of the President of Sri Lanka.