Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)

Not to be confused with Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom).

Chief of the Defence Staff
Flag of the CDS
Incumbent Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton since 2 September 2025
Ministry of Defence British Armed Forces
Abbreviation	CDS
Member of	Defence Council Chiefs of Staff Committee
Reports to	The Prime Minister Secretary of State for Defence
Nominator	Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	The Monarch [1] on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation	1 January 1959
First holder	Marshal of the RAF Sir William Dickson
Deputy	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff
Website	Official website

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. ^{[2] [3]} 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. ^{[1] [4]}

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 ^[5]

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. ^[6]

There are also several Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (DCDS) posts who support the VCDS. As of 2015, these are: ^[7]

• 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. ^[8]

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. ^[9] The CDS will also command the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) and the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Force Development). ^{[10] [11]}

Professional heads of the English/British Armed Forces

• v
• t
• e

	Royal Navy	British Army	Royal Air Force	Combined
1645	N/A	Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (1645/60–1904, intermittently)	Not established
1689	Senior Naval Lord (1689–1771)
1771	First Naval Lord (1771–1904)
1904	First Sea Lord (1904–1917)	Chief of the General Staff (1904–1909)		Inter-service co-ordination was carried out from 1904 by the Committee of Imperial Defence under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister
1909		Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1909–1964)
1917	First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1917–present)
1918			Chief of the Air Staff (1918–present)
1923				Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (1923–1959, held by one of the service heads until 1956)
1959				Chief of the Defence Staff (1959–present)
1964		Chief of the General Staff (1964–present)

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

No.	Picture	Chief of the Defence Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Life peerage	Ref.
1		Dickson, William Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Dickson (1898–1987) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	1 January 1959	12 July 1959	192 days	Royal Air Force	None	[12]
2		Mountbatten, Louis Admiral of the Fleet Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	13 July 1959	15 July 1965	6 years, 2 days	Royal Navy	Hereditary peerage, Earl Mountbatten of Burma	[13]
3		Hull, Richard Field Marshal Sir Richard Hull (1907–1989) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	16 July 1965	4 August 1967	2 years, 19 days	British Army	None	[14]
4		Elworthy, CharlesMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Elworthy (1911–1993) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	4 August 1967	8 April 1971	3 years, 247 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Elworthy	[15] [16]
5		Hill-Norton, PeterAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Hill-Norton (1915–2004) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	9 April 1971	21 October 1973	2 years, 195 days	Royal Navy	Baron Hill-Norton	[17]
6		Carver, MichaelField Marshal Sir Michael Carver (1915–2001) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	21 October 1973	24 October 1976	3 years, 3 days	British Army	Baron Carver	[18] [19]
7		Humphrey, AndrewMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Andrew Humphrey (1921–1977) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	24 October 1976	24 January 1977 †	92 days	Royal Air Force	None	[20]
-		Ashmore, EdwardAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Ashmore (1919–2016) Acting Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	9 February 1977	30 August 1977	202 days	Royal Navy	None	[21]
8		Cameron, NeilMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Neil Cameron (1920–1985) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	31 August 1977	31 August 1979	2 years	Royal Air Force	Baron Cameron of Balhousie	[22] [23]
9		Lewin, TerenceAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Terence Lewin (1920–1999) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	1 September 1979	30 September 1982	3 years, 29 days	Royal Navy	Baron Lewin	[24]
10		Bramall, EdwinField Marshal Sir Edwin Bramall (1923–2019) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff [a]	1 October 1982	31 October 1985	3 years, 30 days	British Army	Baron Bramall	[25]
11		Fieldhouse, JohnAdmiral of the Fleet Sir John Fieldhouse (1928–1992) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	1 November 1985	9 December 1988	3 years, 38 days	Royal Navy	Baron Fieldhouse	[26]
12		Craig, DavidMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir David Craig (born 1929) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	9 December 1988	1 April 1991	2 years, 113 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Craig of Radley	[27]
13		Vincent, RichardField Marshal Sir Richard Vincent (1931–2018) [a]	2 April 1991	31 December 1992	1 year, 273 days	British Army	Baron Vincent of Coleshill	[28]
14		Robin Harding, PeterMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Harding (1933–2021) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	31 December 1992	13 March 1994	1 year, 72 days	Royal Air Force	None	[29]
15		Inge, PeterField Marshal Sir Peter Inge (1935–2022) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	15 March 1994	1 April 1997	3 years, 17 days	British Army	Baron Inge	[30]
16		Guthrie, Charles General Sir Charles Guthrie (1938–2025) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	2 April 1997	15 February 2001	3 years, 319 days	British Army	Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank	[31]
17		Boyce, Michael Admiral Sir Michael Boyce (1943–2022) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	16 February 2001	2 May 2003	2 years, 75 days	Royal Navy	Baron Boyce	[32]
18		Walker, MichaelGeneral Sir Michael Walker (born 1944) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	2 May 2003	28 April 2006	2 years, 361 days	British Army	Baron Walker of Aldringham	[33]
19		Stirrup, Jock Air Chief Marshal Sir Graham "Jock" Stirrup (born 1949) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	28 April 2006	29 October 2010	4 years, 184 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Stirrup of Marylebone	[34]
20		Richards, DavidGeneral Sir David Richards (born 1952) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	29 October 2010	18 July 2013	2 years, 271 days	British Army	Baron Richards of Herstmonceux	[35] [36]
21		Houghton, NickGeneral Sir Nicholas Houghton (born 1954) Previously served as the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	18 July 2013	14 July 2016	2 years, 362 days	British Army	Baron Houghton of Richmond	[37] [38]
22		Houghton, NickAir Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach (born 1956) Previously served as the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	14 July 2016	11 June 2018	1 year, 332 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Peach	[39]
23		Houghton, NickGeneral Sir Nicholas Carter (born 1959) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	11 June 2018	30 November 2021	3 years, 172 days	British Army	None	[40]
24		Radakin, TonyAdmiral Sir Tony Radakin (born 1965) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	30 November 2021	2 September 2025	3 years, 276 days	Royal Navy	None	[41]
25		Knighton, RichardAir Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton (born 1969) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	2 September 2025	Incumbent	16 days	Royal Air Force	Incumbent	[42]

Timeline

Peerage

Customarily, former Chiefs of Defence Staff receive a life peerage on retirement, ^[b] 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. ^{[35] [43] [44]}

See also

• Head of the British Armed Forces

Notes

1. Previously served as the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.
2. Sir William Dickson, Sir Richard Hull and Sir Peter Harding never received a peerage.

References

1. Departmental Resource Accounts 2006-7 Ministry of Defence
2. "Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton KCB ADC FREng appointed new Chief of the Defence Staff". GOV.UK. 27 June 2025. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
3. "Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton KCB ADC FREng". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
4. "Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC appointed new Chief of the Defence Staff". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
5. "Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
6. "V: Ministry of Defence and tri-service senior appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 11 February 2012.
7. "How Defence Works". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
8. "Professor Michael Clarke". King's College London. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
9. "Major defence reforms launched, with new National Armaments Director to tackle waste and boost industry". UK Ministry of Defence. London. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
10. "Defence Reform Volume 765: debated on Tuesday 1 April 2025". hansard.parliament.uk. UK Hansard. 1 April 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
11. "Armed Forces Question for Ministry of Defence UIN 44500, tabled on 7 April 2025". questions-statements.parliament.uk. UK Hansard. 28 April 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
12. Barrass, Malcolm (25 September 2007). "Marshal of the RAF Sir William Dickson". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
13. Heathcote (2002), p. 189
14. "No. 43712". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 July 1965. p. 6717.
15. Barrass, Malcolm (16 June 2007). "Marshal of the RAF The Lord Elworthy of Timaru". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
16. "No. 44376". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 July 1967. p. 8445.
17. "No. 45168". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 August 1970. p. 8853.
18. "No. 46109". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 October 1973. p. 12551.
19. "No. 47050". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 October 1976. p. 14418.
20. "No. 47050". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 October 1976. p. 14421.
21. Heathcote (2002), p. 16
22. Barrass, Malcolm (16 June 2007). "Marshal of the RAF Lord Cameron of Balhousie". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
23. "No. 47311". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 August 1977. p. 11141.
24. Heathcote (2002), p. 159
25. "No. 49142". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 October 1982. p. 13571.
26. Heathcote (2002), p. 78
27. "No. 51550". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 December 1988. p. 13684.
28. "No. 52489". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 March 1991. p. 5083.
29. "No. 53184". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 January 1993. p. 1376.
30. "No. 53645". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 April 1994. p. 5799.
31. "No. 54726". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 April 1997. p. 4170.
32. MoD announces new Chief of Defence Staff ^{[ usurped ]}
33. "No. 56992". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 July 2003. p. 8463.
34. SBAC ^{[ permanent dead link ]} RAF Chief becomes the new Chief of Defence Staff
35. "Outgoing CDS to receive peerage". Downing Street. 27 October 2010.
36. "No. 59593". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 November 2010. p. 21039.
37. "No. 60575". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 2013. p. 14487.
38. "Sir David Richards to become a lord – after overseeing the sacking of 20,000 troops". 13 July 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
39. "Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Stuart Peach GBE KCB DL". 14 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
40. "No. 62321". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2018. p. 10419.
41. "Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC appointed new Chief of the Defence Staff". 7 October 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
42. "Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton takes over as Chief of Defence Staff". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
43. House of Lords Business, February 1, 2011
44. "Gen Sir David Richards new head of British armed forces". BBC News. 14 July 2010.

Sources

• Carver, Michael (1989). Out of Step: The Memoirs of Field Marshal Lord Carver. London: Hutchinson. ISBN   0-09173-985-3.
• Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995. Havertown: Pen & Sword. ISBN   0-85052-835-6.
• Richards, David (2014). Taking Command. London: Headline. ISBN   1-47222-084-6.