In 1918 he became chief delegate for the Supply of Relief to Poland. In February 1919 he was appointed British Commissioner for the Baltic Provinces during the British intervention in that region and helped draw up the treaty that established Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He adjudicated on the line of the border between Estonia and Latvia, which included dividing the town of Valga/Valka. He was secretary to the last Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord FitzAlan and was then Imperial Secretary for Northern Ireland, 1922 to 1926.
He is best known for his work as the secretary of the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) between 1926 and 1933. There he employed the Britishdocumentary film-maker John Grierson and commissioned artists including: Clive Gardiner, E. McKnight Kauffer, and Frank Newbould to produce a series of large posters, promoting British and Empire produce. Following the demise of the EMB in 1933 Tallents moved to the GPO,[2] transferring the EMB's film unit with him which led to the GPO Film Unit's production of classic documentaries such as Night Mail. Tallents went on to work for the BBC as its first Controller of Public Relations and Deputy Director General under Lord Reith.
Sir Stephen Tallents, Man and Boy by Faber & Faber, (1943)
Scott Anthony, Public Relations and the Making of Modern Britain: Stephen Tallents and the Birth of a Progressive Media Profession. Manchester University Press (2013) ISBN9780719090042