WEBINAR | Civil service leadership, diversity and morale 📆New date: Tuesday 07 May 2026, 12:00-12:45 Join us for the third of our 'A state rewired?' series exploring the findings of Whitehall Monitor 2026 and the people who make up the civil service workforce, including diversity and morale.

@vimbai-dzimwasha.bsky.social brilliantly summarised our findings for @civilserviceworld.bsky.social as well www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...

Fascinating listen with Hannah and a brill panel - completely agree with Hannah's closing point that the relationship between ministers and civil servants needs repairing (which they both want to do!) because the consequences of that not happening are too high and damaging for the whole country

Westminster is still consumed by the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal. So where does Olly Robbins' evidence leave Keir Starmer? Former Foreign Office perm sec Peter Ricketts joins us in the studio to discuss a week of blame and counter-blame www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

If you are an official making policy in a crisis - this new IfG report from @nehaldavison.bsky.social, @vimbai-dzimwasha.bsky.social and me looks at how different aspects of policymaking can be easier or harder in crisis with prompts to help consider some of the most common challenges 🧵

🚨 OUT NOW 🚨 The Mandelson crisis exposes No 10's civil service rift Former Cabinet Secretary Lord Robin Butler, the IfG's @hannahkeenan.bsky.social, FDA's Dave Penman, and CSW's @suzannahb.bsky.social discuss the damaging sacking of Olly Robbins and its fallout Listen now: pod.fo/e/40598c

You don't *have* to speak a different UK language to work at IfG, but if you do you *will* get put in front of a camera. Fab work by @howesdaniel.bsky.social and @meganbryer.bsky.social! Any Cornish speakers out there?

IfG goes bilingual in run-up to Welsh elections - impressive from Megan and Dan

Mewn pythefnos, bydd pobl yng Nghymru yn mynd i bleidleisio yn y saethfed etholiad Seneddol ers sefydlu datganoli yn 1999. Mae @meganbryer.bsky.social a @howesdaniel.bsky.social yn esbonio beth sydd yn y fantol yn yr etholiadau yma www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/se...

And you can also read @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social excellent new report assessing current attempts at public service reform and how they match up to the government's stated aims of devolution, integration and prevention www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

You can find loads more detail on the case studies of former ministers and the (still very relevant) lessons from how they approached reform in the report with @timdurrant.bsky.social & @meganbryer.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

New from me and @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social for @labourlist.bsky.social drawing on our recent @instituteforgovernment.org.uk reports we set out the challenge for current ministers in reforming public services and some of the lessons they can learn from past successes labourlist.org/2026/04/what...

The vetting system needs to survive the Mandelson test Political appointments require a different vetting process to officials. @jillongovt.bsky.social says we need to ensure the integrity of the system does not join the list of collateral damage www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

EVENT | Book launch: What is immigration policy for? 📆Tuesday 28 April 2026, 18:00 — 19:00 Join us online as Madeleine Sumption is joined by Rt Hon Amber Rudd to discuss the trade-offs governments face when laying out immigration policy - and the impacts of their choices on people and communities.

The civil service in Wales must be prepared for a major change after May’s elections Welsh civil servants adjusting to a new government, after decades of Labour ministers, is a challenge that cannot be underestimated www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comm...

Think also downstream of the BBC’s view of impartiality is a midpoint between the various parties: Kemi has made procedure her lance, Keir his shield (in part because that’s what the ministerial code punishes) so the most important outlet treats that as the important question.

Both Starmer and Robbins clearly feel aggrieved. Starmer seems to think that there was a red box ticked by UKSV saying don't grant Mandelson clearance, and all extremely clear cut and unusual. Robbins that there was no such thing, and it was all risk mitigation, no role for ministers, normal process

OR reveals there were several discussions no10 had with him about finding Matthew Doyle a Diplomatic post... describes how uncomfortable he felt with it all.

I am just back @instituteforgovernment.org.uk this week from 5 wonderful months of parental leave, just in time for another quiet week in British politics... And I'm back just in time to share a brilliant new report on employment support www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/... 1/5

The sacking of Olly Robbins has been badly handled by Keir Starmer. No.10's bullish response is further damaging the already fraught relationship between civil servants and ministers www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mand...

Think this is such a key point - almost regardless of the issue at hand, this whole saga (like partygate, and wallpapergate, and all the other gates) just means that the PM and No10 cannot focus on the day job of governing

Robbins says that before no10 published it last weekend, he had never seen a traffic light system from UKSV and wasn't aware that it was used.

This is all the wrong way of looking at it, no? Yes, the candidate should have got DV clearance before being announced - but he didn’t. Because No10 didn’t think that was necessary. That’s the root failure - not the failure to declare the outcome of the vetting after it had happened

A failure of process is never the root problem, Emily! So much focus on whether meetings were minuted - less on what decisions were made based on the information

Join us at 12.30 when we will be dissecting the consequences of the Mandelson vetting scandal after Sir Olly Robbins’s evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/peter-...

Olly Robbins is in front of the foreign affairs committee in an hour's time to give his side of the Mandelson vetting story. He is expected to say he followed the rules but here are the 5 things I'm looking for: 🧵

The answer to the question of “who does a private office answer to”, is, fundamentally, the minister in charge of that private office

Robbins saying that Cabinet Office and No10 weren’t bothered about vetting because of Mandelson’s status as a privy councillor and peer

While we hear from Olly Robbins, do sign up for our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk webinar at lunchtime looking at what we can learn from the Mandelson affair... www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/peter-...

📺 The Peter Mandelson scandal: What are the lessons for Keir Starmer's government? Essential @instituteforgovernment.org.uk webinar with @drhannahwhite.bsky.social @jillongovt.bsky.social @timdurrant.bsky.social @hannahkeenan.bsky.social Tues 12:30 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/peter-...

So this is kind of important. Why is it right that Romeo and Little waited a month to disclose to the PM that they now knew about the vetting outcome, versus why Robbins chose not to. Starmer says they were right to await legal advice. Key q for Robbins whether he took legal advice.

It's not the passive voice, but the prime minister saying "Downing Street's wish to appoint Peter Mandelson" is *shudders*. Guess who is the boss of Downing Street??

Starmer now choosing to lean into this in the Commons. It seems there are severe errors in how fcdo handled this (especially if Cab Sec not informed) - but, perhaps unsurprisingly if also depressingly, Starmer focused entirely on how everything would have been different had fcdo given him the info

Voter registration closes tonight at 23:59 for the Senedd, Scottish Parliament and English local elections on 7 May. The @instituteforgovernment.org.uk has several great explainers outlining what is at stake in each election.

PM will make a ministerial statement in Parliament. We hear that he's going to 'admit he inadvertently gave MPs misleading information' (guardian). But the nerd in me wants to know if he's going to do a proper correction using the suggested wording... guidetoprocedure.parliament.uk/articles/wT3...

There's so much to write about everything that's happening with Mandelson vetting fight (and always happy to explain the process, others have done so v well on here). But the v. aggressive approach from no10 is over the weekend is just so damaging - so have tried to capture some of that

As we gear up for the PM's statement, check out this key analysis from my brill @instituteforgovernment.org.uk colleague @hannahkeenan.bsky.social- all you need to know about what's happened and what impact it's having on an already fragile system: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mand...

I feel like the next 24 hours in parliament are going to be really trying for those of us who dislike the passive voice

Ultimately none of the process chatter about the Mandelson appointment really matters, it is all just fluff around 'the PM made a bad decision that became politically untenable':

Our new IfG report explores what a better system of employment support for people out of work due to ill health could look like. DWP's centralised approach to date has some strengths, but has limited integration with other services and the innovation needed to better understand what works 🧵

The English devolution bill: small but important steps on public health. As government moves to give mayors a clearer role in improving health, our comment sets out some key lessons from DevoLab for how mayors can tackle inequalities: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comm...

The same Sir Adrian Fulford currently charing the Southport Inquiry? Retired makes it sound like he has more time on his hands for this than I imagine he actually does...

Never let it be said that IfG doesn't have its finger on the pulse...

fascinated that the PM found out on Tuesday but told neither Cooper nor Jones, who both only found out yesterday it seems? what were no10 doing with the information, if not discussing it with the ministers who oversee the vetting process and the department in question?

These blogs are but a small part of the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's wider coverage of the upcoming local and devolved elections - check out our central hub for loads more: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-work/top...

In a first for the IfG, @meganbryer.bsky.social and I have translated two pieces about the upcoming Welsh and Scottish elections into Cymraeg! 1/🧵

With 3 weeks to go until Welsh and Scottish elections, we @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have been looking at what new ministers and current civil servants can learn from the 2024 experience. And Megan and Dan have translated it into Welsh for us! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/new-...

This paper represents a small but deeply impressive and genuinely important achievement by the much maligned British state in what is probably the most important global issue of our era. Hear me out ( 🧵) 1/ www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/our-eva...

Thanks to Politics Home for the chance to talk about our recent @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report - and the lessons ministers can learn from recent predecessors on how to drive reform in public services.