Ministerial leadership during crises

Crises can throw the normal business of government off course and mean that a minister loses the trust of their colleagues, or that an entire government loses the confidence of the public. Ensuring an effective response to crises is part of government’s “licence to operate” – if they cannot get this right, people will not trust them to get on with day-to-day delivery.

The Institute for Government has researched how ministers can lead effective responses to crises – the role they play as part of the crisis machinery to make decisions, manage relationships and communicate effectively.

We have drawn on this research to produce a package of resources designed to support government ministers and their teams to think about how they can prepare for and respond to crises effectively, including a short ‘how-to’ guide and a practical crisis response workshop.