Part 1: The new government

Labour’s political teams

Starmer prioritised continuity in his first cabinet

Keir Starmer’s first cabinet largely mirrors the pre-election shadow cabinet, with the September 2023 shadow cabinet reshuffle laying the ground for his government.

With the exception of Lisa Nandy (who took over the culture portfolio from Thangam Debbonaire, who lost her seat at the general election), every full member of cabinet came into government holding the brief they shadowed in opposition.* Most had also shadowed those briefs for a considerable period in opposition – 15 of them for more than two years.

This continuity is welcome. While nothing can fully prepare individuals for the challenges of entering government after a long spell in opposition, it helps when new ministers have acquired a good understanding of a policy area and key stakeholders in their shadow roles. ¹ Norris E, Haddon C, Worlidge J, Owen J and Paxton B, Preparing for Government: How the official opposition should ready itself for power, Institute for Government, 4 January 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/preparing-for-government  This was particularly important for this transition given how late access talks (pre-election meetings between the opposition and senior civil servants) began in the electoral cycle.**

The high degree of continuity between shadow cabinet and government posts – and the relatively long time for which shadows covered the same brief – has not always been the case. The 1997 transition saw significant discontinuity, including in key portfolios like health, while plans laid before 2010 were complicated by coalition negotiations.

The resignation of the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, in November 2024 disrupted the continuity among Starmer’s top team, otherwise unchanged since July, though her replacement, Heidi Alexander, can draw on her three and a half years of experience as deputy mayor of London for transport in her new role.

Some ministers have experience from the Blair and Brown governments 

Starmer’s cabinet also has a considerable level of experience in government, with more former ministers – including three former cabinet ministers – than Blair’s in 1997, and the same number as the coalition in 2010. ² Ibid.  The prime minister can also draw on his own experience leading the Crown Prosecution Service before entering parliament in 2015.

Outside of cabinet, former ministers like Diana Johnson and Stephen Timms – who also scrutinised their current departments as select committee chairs in the last parliament – have been brought into government even though they did not serve in Starmer’s shadow frontbench team. Other former Labour ministers who have returned to government include some MPs who were re-elected in 2024 having previously left parliament (such as Douglas Alexander) and some former MPs who have been appointed to the Lords (Jacqui Smith and David Hanson).

Taken together, this means that Starmer’s government has been able to draw on a significant bedrock of experience. ³ Ibid., pp. 37–38.  While government has changed significantly since any Labour ministers were last in office, this should nonetheless have helped them get to grips with their roles.

Starmer has used direct appointments to the Lords to bring external expertise into his government

Starmer has also sought to bring external expertise into the ministerial ranks. On taking office he made seven people, including previously non-political figures, ministers by appointing them to the Lords. This is not new – elections (and changes of prime minister outside of an election) are often accompanied by a spate of direct appointments, as seen in 1997, 2007 and 2015. Previous prime ministers, notably David Cameron, have used direct ministerial appointments to bring business experience to Treasury and trade-related roles in particular; Cameron himself was ennobled by Rishi Sunak to enable him to become foreign secretary in 2022.

Starmer’s newly ennobled ministers cover a broader range of briefs, however. Appointments include Patrick Vallance as science minister – who can draw on a career in academia, medical research and as government chief scientific adviser – and James Timpson as prisons minister, who was previously chief executive of the Timpson Group and chair of the Prison Reform Trust.

But being a minister is an explicitly political role, not a technocratic one. Both political nous and an understanding of parliament and Whitehall help ministers to advance their agendas. While Starmer’s appointments have already made progress in getting acquainted with the political aspects of their jobs, in this regard they started in a different place from their colleagues in the Commons.

In an unusual move, some newly elected MPs have become ministers

Starmer also made the unusual move of appointing six ministers and two whips who were first elected as MPs in July. They may face a similar challenge to the Lords ministers – new MPs already have much to grapple with without the pressure of a government role, and these new ministers may find that being tied to their departments makes it more difficult to build important relationships with other MPs.

The appointments do, however, bring a depth of external experience and perspectives: Miatta Fahnbulleh brings previous experience in think tanks and the civil service to DESNZ, and Hamish Falconer can draw on his diplomatic career at the FCDO. Georgia Gould, meanwhile – now a Cabinet Office minister – led Camden Council as it developed its own ‘mission-led’ approach.

Special advisers are indispensable to any government – but there were early signs of discontent

Labour’s election victory also brought a new cohort of special advisers (spads) into government departments. Details of their numbers and pay have not yet been released, though Starmer’s version of the ministerial code removed the limit (anyway rarely observed in recent years) on the number of spads per cabinet minister. ⁴ Cabinet Office, Ministerial Code, 6 November 2024, www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-code  There have nonetheless been indications that Starmer’s government, like others before it, is sensitive to accusations that they appoint too many special advisers. ⁵ White, H., ’The government’s approach to civil service appointments has been an unforced error’, Institute for Government, 22 August 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/civil-service-appointments-unforced-error; Bloom D, ’Kamala takes the stage’, London Playbook, Politico, 23 August 2024, www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/outlasting-liz-truss

This sensitivity is misplaced – a strong political team pays dividends that far outweigh the short-term challenges of negative headlines. ⁶ Durrant T, Blacklaws N and Zodgekar K, ’Special advisers and the Johnson government: How the prime minister and his team are changing the role’, Institute for Government, 20 October 2020, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/special-advisers-and-johnson-government  And the government’s apparent hesitation to appoint more spads has already caused problems: it appears to have led to the government making the mistake of using an ‘exceptional’ process to appoint as civil servants some party-aligned figures who may have been better appointed as spads (covered in more detail in the Recruitment chapter). ⁷ White, H., ‘The government’s approach to civil service appointments has been an unforced error’, Institute for Government, 22 August 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/civil-service-appointments-unforced-error

Soon after the election there were also reports of spads unionising over discontent with pay, contracts and conditions, as many were reportedly offered salaries that were lower than their predecessors and lower than they received in opposition. ⁸ Adu A, ‘Labour special advisers join union over concerns about pay’, The Guardian, 10 September 2024, www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/10/labour-special-advisers-join-union-over-concerns-about-pay  In this light it is notable that spad pay scales have remained largely static between 2010 and 2024 – the maximum possible salary for special advisers in March 2024 was less than £2,500 higher (1.63% in nominal terms) than in 2010. This means that in practice, spad pay across all four pay bands has fallen significantly in real terms: the mid-point pay at band 1 (the lowest band) has decreased by 51.2% since 2010.

It has been reported that the spad pay bands, which the previous government repeatedly promised to review, were revised following the general election. Details of the new pay bands have not yet been made public. ⁹ Mason C and Zeffman H, ’Keir Starmer’s top aide Sue Gray paid more than the PM’, BBC, 18 September 2024, retrieved 31 October 2024, www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx247wkq137o

Spads play a vital role in making government work effectively. So this discontent – particularly so soon after the election – will have been a concern to No.10. Indeed the media commentary that preceded Sue Gray’s resignation as the prime minister’s chief of staff in October was partially fed by briefings from disgruntled spads. ¹⁰ Crerar P, ‘Sue Gray’s replacement quells No 10 spad rebellion – for now’, The Guardian, 10 October 2024, www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/oct/10/sue-grays-replacement-quells-no-10-spad-rebellion-for-now  Things seem to have improved since then, with the prime minister’s current chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, reportedly making repairing relations with spads a key part of his No.10 reset. ¹¹ Ibid.  Ensuring that they focus on adding value to government, rather than criticising their bosses in the media, should be a priority for McSweeney, and the wider No.10 team, throughout this parliament.

* Though the attorney general is not a full member of cabinet, Richard Hermer KC was made attorney general instead of Emily Thornberry, who shadowed the role.

** Access talks commenced in February 2024, five months before the election. By contrast, talks began at least 16 months before the 1997 and 2010 elections.

Mission-led government

Mission-led government is central to the government’s objectives

As well as a new slate of ministers and spads, the new government brings – or intends to bring – an entirely new way of governing, and of working, to Whitehall: ‘mission-led government’.

Five ‘missions’ were first announced by Keir Starmer in February 2023. ¹² Mason C and Whannel K, ‘Keir Starmer unveils Labour’s five missions for the country’, BBC, 23 February 2023, www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64739371  While the exact wording has changed, the missions played a key role in Labour’s pitch to the country when in opposition, including in its manifesto. The five missions, each with associated end goals, are:

• Kick-start economic growth
• Make Britain a clean energy superpower
• Take back our streets
• Break down barriers to opportunity
• Build an NHS fit for the future. ¹³ Labour Party, Change: Labour Party Manifesto 2024, June 2024, https://labour.org.uk/change/mission-led-government

These missions featured heavily in the early activity of the new government. In Starmer’s first press conference he announced that there would be five cross-cutting ‘mission boards’ comprised of ministers and officials to make key decisions and oversee the work of each mission across government. ¹⁴ Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, ‘Prime Minister’s remarks at Downing Street: 6 July 2024’, 6 July 2024, www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-remarks-at-downing-street-6-july-2024  The state opening of parliament saw the King say that his government will be ‘mission-led’. ¹⁵ Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, ‘Oral statement to Parliament: The King’s Speech 2024’, 17 July 2024, www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-kings-speech-2024

This focus on the missions has continued. In December, five months into his premiership, Starmer made his Plan for Change speech – setting out six ‘milestones’ for the missions to achieve by the end of the parliament, and giving a stronger indication of the Whitehall reform that will be needed to deliver on them. In his own words, the speech “doubled down on our national missions”. ¹⁶ Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, ‘PM speech on Plan for Change: 5 December 2024’, 5 December 2024, www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-plan-for-change-5-december-2024

Missions are intended as a new way of governing

This shift to mission-led government is in some ways a new concept, popularised by the economist Mariana Mazzucato. ¹⁷ Mazzucato M, Mission Economy: A moonshot guide to capitalism, Penguin, 2022.  She has presented it as a tool to tackle the most important issues of the 21st century, and a way to restructure the work of government and how it relates to the private sector and civil society. This model sees ‘missions’ not as just another word for ‘priority’ but as a new way for government to work, akin to the way that ‘new public management’ changed the way the state operated under Margaret Thatcher and beyond.

There has been a plethora of work published across the UK think tank sector on how mission-led government might work in practice, including by the Institute for Government, ¹⁸ Pannell J and Owen J, Mission launch: Five steps the government must take to deliver its five missions, Institute for Government, September 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/five-steps-government-missions  IPPR, ¹⁹ Quilter-Pinner H, Mission-driven government: Delivering for the British public in an age of distrust and disruption, IPPR, May 2024, https://ippr-org.files.svdcdn.com/production/Downloads/Mission-driven-government-May-2024_2024-05-15-083509_esaz.pdf  Demos, ²⁰ Mulgan G and Slater J, Mission reform: Key reforms for a fit-for-purpose government, DEMOS, January 2024, https://demos.co.uk/research/mission-reform-key-reforms-for-a-fit-for-purpose-government  Reform ²¹ King P and Eke S, Mission control: A how-to guide to delivering mission-led government, Reform, April 2024, https://reform.uk/publications/mission-control  and Nesta. ²² Gurumurthy R, Owen J, Burns A and Norris E, Mission-driven government: What does a ‘mission-driven’ approach to government mean and how can it be delivered?, NESTA, Institute for Government, 15 July 2024, www.nesta.org.uk/report/what-does-a-mission-driven-approach-to-government-mean-and-how-can-it-be-delivered  Some common themes have emerged – including seeing the approach as involving more long-term policy making, working across government (between both different departments and tiers of government), working in a more experimental way, testing and iterating approaches, and forming better partnerships with the private sector and civil society.

In the Plan for Change, the government describes the five missions as an effort to shift Whitehall and Westminster towards more long-term ways of working. ²³ Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, CP 1210, The Stationery Office, 2024.  And it sets out how they will change the way government works, by, for example:

• Making better use of “technological deployment, innovation and learning from experiments”
• Building a culture of “continuous improvement”
• Breaking down silos between departments in Whitehall
• Working with devolved governments to “align efforts across all nations on these islands”
• Being more open with the public about the challenges and trade-offs involved in the missions
• Delivering the missions through “partnership between public and private sectors, national and local government, business and unions, alongside the whole of civil society”. ²⁴ Ibid.

None of these efforts is new. Governments have, to differing extents, long sought to operate in these ways. But not being new is no criticism – they remain laudable aims, and while there is a wealth of theory on how mission-led government might work, practical examples of governments working in this way are harder to find (at least according to the definitions adopted by the current government). The most widely discussed example is that of Camden Council in London, which in 2021 set four missions and has to some extent shifted towards more mission-led working. ²⁵ Mazzucato M and Gould G, ‘Missions-driven Government for 21st Century Public Service’, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Medium, 23 February 2024, https://medium.com/iipp-blog/professor-mariana-mazzucato-and-cllr-georgia-gould-leader-of-camden-council-write-about-the-need-ebd5ec2841d2  It is notable therefore that the former leader of the council, Georgia Gould, is now serving as a minister in the Cabinet Office.

There are certainly benefits to be had from mission-led government. Policy making is a prime example – the fortunes of successive governments have suffered because of persistent problems with how the civil service approaches policy making, ²⁶ Worlidge J, Clyne R, Nye P, Metcalfe S and others, Whitehall Monitor 2024, Institute for Government, 22 January 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/whitehall-monitor-2024  many of which might benefit from a mission-led approach. The tendency towards short-termism is particularly damaging. At a time when most of the major challenges facing the country – improving productivity, reducing regional inequality, adapting to an ageing society or mitigating and responding to climate change – are chronic in nature, it is concerning that long-termism in policy making regularly founders on contact with political incentives and timescales. ²⁷ Sasse T and Thomas A, Better policy making, Institute for Government, 2022, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/better-policy-making  Other weaknesses in policy making that could in theory benefit from a mission-led approach include resistance to outside input, departmental silos remaining entrenched and a lack of diversity of thought and direct experience among officials. ²⁸ Worlidge J, Clyne R, Nye P, Metcalfe S and others, Whitehall Monitor 2024, Institute for Government, 22 January 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/whitehall-monitor-2024

So the theory is certainly appealing. But realising this vision is a huge challenge, calling for a reinvigorated effort to shake up Whitehall.

Further detail has emerged on how the missions will work – but the real test is yet to come

Starmer’s speech represented a doubling down on mission-led government. It added some detail to the end goals of the missions – which vary in specificity – by adding the following ‘milestones’ to be achieved by the end of the parliament:

• Raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, so working people have more money in their pocket as we aim to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7
• Building 1.5 million homes in England and fast-tracking planning decisions on at least 150 major economic infrastructure projects – more than the last 14 years combined
• Ending hospital backlogs to meet the NHS standard of 92% of patients in England waiting no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment
• Putting police back on the beat with a named officer for every neighbourhood, and 13,000 additional officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood roles in England and Wales
• Giving children the best start in life, with a record 75% of five year olds in England ready to learn when they start school
• Securing home-grown energy, protecting billpayers, and putting us on track to at least 95% clean power by 2030, while accelerating the UK to net zero. ²⁹ Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, ‘PM speech on Plan for Change: 5 December 2024’, 5 December 2024, www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-plan-for-change-5-december-2024

These milestones include clear timelines and, for the most part, clear metrics for progress to be measured against. This is welcome – it goes some way to addressing the lack of clarity in the original missions and setting out how the government plans to move towards the end goals. They also add to some short-term targets, announced before the election, to achieve early on in the missions, such as “recruit 6,500 new teachers”, or the less specific “crack down on antisocial behaviour”. ³⁰ Labour Party, ‘Labour’s first steps for change’, 28 June 2024, https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labours-first-steps-for-change  But with just one milestone for each mission except growth, there is a risk that they will lead to a focus on the headline metrics at the cost of the overall mission – or simply cause confusion.

This year, attention must turn to putting these plans into action. In some areas – such as the commitment to work collaboratively with those outside government – more detail is needed. But most important will be a clear institutional framework for the missions. There has been some progress in establishing this, and some missions now have fairly extensive structures around them. For the ‘clean power’ mission, ministers have appointed a ‘mission control’ team led by ex-Climate Change Committee chief executive Chris Stark and an advisory commission of experts. ³¹ Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, ‘Chris Stark to lead Mission Control to deliver clean power by 2030’, 9 July 2024, www.gov.uk/government/news/chris-stark-to-lead-mission-control-to-deliver-clean-power-by-2030 ³² Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, ‘Energy experts appointed to deliver clean power 2030 mission’, 10 October 2024, www.gov.uk/government/news/energy-experts-appointed-to-deliver-clean-power-2030-mission  The ‘growth’ mission, meanwhile, has seen the establishment of a growth delivery unit and a council of economic advisers. ³³ Fleming S, ‘Reeves to create council of economic advisers in search for growth’, Financial Times, 11 July 2024, www.ft.com/content/ecf30207-70bb-4107-ae67-0fb3283732e7  There is a risk, though, that such structures are too closely tied to the lead departments, raising the question of how cross-cutting they will really be.

Some of the other announced structures are more clearly designed to bring departments together. There is a new Mission Delivery Unit (MDU) of around 25 people in the Cabinet Office, with Clara Swinson – previously a director general in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – appointed to head it. ³⁴ Markson T, ‘Head of Mission Delivery Unit Appointed’, Civil Service World, 3 September 2024, www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/clara-swinson-mission-delivery-unit-head-appointed  The mission boards have also been established (though, contrary to what was said before the election, ³⁵ Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, ‘Prime Minister’s remarks at Downing Street: 6 July 2024’, 6 July 2024, www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-remarks-at-downing-street-6-july-2024  the prime minister will assess progress through ‘stocktakes’ for each mission ³⁶ House of Commons, Hansard, ‘Oral answers to questions’, 5 December 2024, col. 442.  rather than chairing the boards).

The exact role of these boards will need to be clarified. They are understood within government to operate as cabinet committees, with collective decision making powers, and Pat McFadden recently confirmed that they would include officials and allow others to be invited in to participate. ³⁷ Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Oral Evidence: The work of the Cabinet Office (HC 463), 10 December 2024, https://committees.parliament.uk/event/22572  But they exist alongside regular cabinet committees, making their role – especially where remits overlap – unclear. Establishing a Mission Strategy Board to broker between missions and act as the ultimate decision making forum, as the Institute has previously recommended, ³⁸ Pannell J and Owen J, Mission launch: Five steps the government must take to deliver its five missions, Institute for Government, September 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/five-steps-government-missions  would be sensible.

The real test will be whether the government will bring about the reforms to the budgeting and spending review process that will be necessary for the missions to work as intended. This will require the development of joint spending plans for each mission, and a more joined up and strategic approach to budgeting overall. ³⁹ Bartrum O, Paxton B and Clyne R, How to run the next multi-year spending review, Institute for Government, August 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/how-run-next-multi-year-spending-review  Rachel Reeves has said the second phase of the spending review will be mission-led ⁴⁰ HM Treasury, ‘Chancellor: Every pound spent will deliver Plan for Change’, 12 December 2024, www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-every-pound-spent-will-deliver-plan-for-change  – its release later this year will be a make-or-break moment for mission-led government.

The civil service will need to change to deliver mission-led government

Starmer’s Plan for Change speech also had an unexpected but welcome focus on civil service reform, even if his language about Whitehall languishing in the “tepid bath of managed decline” proved counterproductive. The prime minister emphasised the need to “rewire” how the civil service works to “ensure it is equipped with the right structures, tools and ways of working to deliver the Plan for Change”, ⁴¹ Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, ‘PM sets out blueprint for decade of national renewal’, 5 December 2024, www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-sets-out-blueprint-for-decade-of-national-renewal  and the need for better adoption of artificial intelligence and greater accountability for senior officials were singled out.

Starmer’s speech was quickly followed by one from McFadden. Focusing on civil service reform and under the same Plan for Change branding as Starmer’s, the speech was a further acknowledgement that mission-led government will require significant changes to how Whitehall works. The specific proposals outlined – simplifying civil service recruitment processes and more hiring from outside, the adoption of a “test-and-learn mindset” – were welcome, if familiar. And McFadden’s acknowledgement that he didn’t have all the answers was refreshing.

But the missions face up to difficult, long-term challenges, and the government is already more than six months into its term. There is so far little evidence that the missions have truly gripped Whitehall. The next six months will be critical: ministers will need to make swift progress in the areas they have identified, think more radically in others, and crucially be willing to sustain a focus on reform over the long term.

In the remainder of this report, we look at the state of the civil service that Labour has inherited, and which it will need to change to deliver its agenda.