First of all, special advisers play a vital role in government including helping to protect the impartiality of the civil service. As we highlighted in The Challenges of Being a Minister, ministers can be isolated and lonely. Special advisers can help as loyal, informed and politically sympathetic colleagues. An environment of openness, confidence and...
Yet the fact that it is politicians makes it newsworthy. There is no reason why this should be so – they are doing jobs like most people, albeit of a high profile kind, and will be judged on their performance. Also, like most organisations, government, is getting flatter in structure with less room to...
SpAds hold an anomalous position in government departments, between their minister and the civil service. Their roles can be very demanding and crucial as a buffer against the politicisation of the civil service. They play a vital part in the functioning of modern government. But they don’t have any management structure as most employees...
Special advisers are subject to their own strict code of conduct and the ministerial code states clearly that ministers are responsible for the management and conduct of their spads and are also ‘accountable to the Prime Minister, Parliament and the public for their actions and decisions in respect of their special advisers.’ The lines...
The Conservatives were the first party in the UK to use primary elections to select parliamentary candidates. At the fringe event it was surprising to note the lack of controversy surrounding primaries, particularly compared to the debate in both the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties about whether they should be introduced. Indeed, Andrew Adonis...
This is not so much whether the riots and their aftermath have been the biggest test the Prime Minister has faced since coming to office, which seems to be the view of most commentators, but rather what kind of leadership is required to deal with such events. This has achieved greater prominence following the...
The headline grabber inevitably centres around the Prime Minister’s judgement. There are however other important issues which this has highlighted. These are about the processes for senior ‘political’ appointments which come within the purview of Prime Ministers but which involve people who work at the heart of government. The current system is pretty opaque....
Ed Miliband must have breathed a sigh of relief when the Parliamentary Labour Party endorsed his plans to end elections to the Shadow Cabinet even though he still has to get them through the party conference in the autumn. Having personal control as Leader over the composition of the shadow team would strike most...
John Reid had a go when he described the Home Office as “not fit for purpose”. Last week the Cabinet Secretary revealed that he had had to write to the Prime Minister asking him to rein in special advisors after personal attacks on a public official. And yesterday the Prime Minister himself was at...