Cabinet secretaries A 110 year old job. A lot of variation in how past holders have done the job. A lot of debate about whether the job is even doable now. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ca...

Obviously major Whitehall news if it happens Perhaps not surprising given briefing. And if the PM loses confidence in a cabinet secretary then it’s pretty inevitable they go But an impartial civil service cab sec exiting as fallout from a government scandal/attempted reset is very much not great

Rishi Sunak has been understandably reluctant to give too much oxygen to racialised comments that he can't be English. He told cohesion commission this week it partly reflects incentives for "shock jockery"+provocative bigoted language in the "attention economy" www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Peter Mandelson is being investigated for potential “misconduct in public office” over emails he sent as a minister to Jeffrey Epstein. Our explainer sets out what this means in UK law and why few politicians have been prosecuted over it. Read more www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/mi...

The Intelligence and Security Committee is a committee of parliament with statutory responsibility for oversight of the UK Intelligence Community. But what remit does it have? Who sits on it? And what controversies has it been involved in? www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/in...

Really enjoyed this week’s @instituteforgovernment.org.uk podcast with man-of-the-moment @pickardje.bsky.social and @drhannahwhite.bsky.social Listen to hear Jim’s inside account of how he got such a series of mega-scoops podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

Two Mandelsonian thoughts I have been cautious about sharing but I’m interested in what people think

Well worth an hour of your time www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

The next set of mayoral elections will be more like a lottery as voters will have to guess who will make it into the Top Two and who they want/want to stop to be mayor. Lets have proper preferential voting now.

I am saddened to hear of the passing of Lord Wallace. Jim was a lovely man who welcomed me to his home in Orkney, and with whom I drank too much whisky several times, while putting the world to rights. Jim's wise reflections on being a minister: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ministers-re...

This is terribly sad Jim was an outstanding minister, a lovely fun man, & totally committed to public service His calm wisdom was essential for ministers, civil servants (& civil servants turned think tankers). Just on Christmas Eve he shared a speech with wise reflections on his career RIP Jim

Parliament Acts are rarely used but I’m not sure I’d call them archaic- anyway, here’s some more detail on what they are and how they work www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/pa...

Whatever else there is to say about this - the Parliament Acts are *not* archaic www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

The UK needs a robust growth strategy and stronger No.10 to kick-start the economy, says @gilesyb.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/grow...

Lots of things are not great. Dolly Parton is truly, unashamedly great Quality, openness, kindness and bringing people together, sometimes in difficult times and across divides www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Short comment from me about SEND reform: Legal rights are a much-relied-upon safeguard in the SEND system, but they can complicate efforts to make education more inclusive. Govt must acknowledge and carefully navigate that tension, with parents and other stakeholders

Extraordinary descriptions of the dismantling of United States law enforcement Unmoored from professionalism, accountability and the law www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Starting now - Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales is talking at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk. follow the link below to livestream.

PODCAST 🎙️ Keir Starmer’s Trump diplomacy and Darren Jones’s fast fixes Lord Maude joins @drhannahwhite.bsky.social @alexgathomas.bsky.social @hannahkeenan.bsky.social @cathhaddon.bsky.social to discuss the latest government reform plans www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

“Greenland is to Trump as Ukraine is to Putin” “The crisis is not impending, it is here” Fiona Hill at our event this evening www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/trump-...

Quick reaction to Darren Jones’s speech - good stuff - min leadership, risk appetite, reducing approvals, new models of doing things - worried about - leaving fundamental reform for later. Structures in centre, depts and public services need addressing now. Danger this is all a bit sticking plaster

In west London for @darrenpjones.bsky.social speech on reforming government An audience of politicians, the media, think tankers and the like. As far as I can see no cabinet secretary or perm secs… not a great signal for what comes next

We have an exceptional lineup for today's event on NHS structures. We are fully booked in-person, but you can watch the event online from 12.30. Link below

Busy day ahead! Also incudes @darrenpjones.bsky.social setting out his plans to shake up Whitehall and renew the state. Watch on the link below at 11.30 Follow @alexgathomas.bsky.social and @hannahkeenan.bsky.social for some instant reaction. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/modern...

China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among Allies. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. (1/2)

[1/6] A reminder: Europe has cards to use against the US. Lots of them. To cite some examples: - Tighten screws on US digital giants (taxes, fines, even bans) - Export taxes disrupting US supply chains eg pharma - Exclude US firms from European procurement, inc defence ecfr.eu/publication/...

Anyway. To Paddington the Musical!

Tuesday at the US Supreme Court could be a massive, massive deal www.reuters.com/world/suprem...

What did we learn from our conference this week? @timdurrant.bsky.social @hannahkeenan.bsky.social @danhaile.bsky.social @benpaxton.bsky.social @jackworlidge.bsky.social and me give our verdict www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

Interesting write-up of our conference this week in Chris Smyth’s FT newsletter www.ft.com/content/c665...

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to a fantastic @instituteforgovernment.org.uk annual conference today - we have had a series of fascinating conversations and - if you missed them - you can watch them all back on our website here www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

Very much enjoying this year's IFG conference (you can watch it all in your own time in the comfort of your own home on YouTube!)

Darren Jones: "I felt from the whitehall monitor section on missions that you were a bit sad." As the author of that bit, I am happy to confirm that yes I was a bit sad about the missed opportunity for reform. But have a read for yourself! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

"A year and a half on, it's hard to say that the Civil Service is meaningfully different to the one Labour was introduced to in 2024" Labour's bid to rewire the state was welcome and necessary. However, worrying Whitehall trends have tended to get worse writes the IfG's @hannahkeenan.bsky.social

Darren Jones at the IfG just started: DJ says both his roles are about performance of government. Efficiency of the system, showing delivery is different to outcomes, and improving communications. And as CSPM, I exercise the PM's authority on his behalf. When I give a steer, it's the PM's.

At the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk annual conference, Darren Jones sets out what his role is all about: recognising that delivery is different to policy, getting comms clear about government successes, and exercising the authority of the PM across the system

Louise Casey blunt on grade inflation in the civil service - compares decisions grade 5s make now to those fast streamers used to make…

We’ve today published Whitehall Monitor 2026 As well as being your guide to whether Labour is making progress on rewiring the state (A: definitely still a work in progress) it also contains some fantastic data viz Some of my highlights 🧵

Wes Streeting: It does the centre-left "no favours" blaming the civil service for struggles to deliver in government "If we tell the public that we can’t make anything work, then why on earth would they vote to keep us in charge?" @matildamartin.bsky.social reports

Really interesting new polling we did in collaboration with @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social One of the things that stood out for me is that younger people most want government to focus on the long term www.ipsos.com/en-uk/briton...

LC: "At whatever point we decided that the only way you could get £500 a year pay rise was a promotion. Well they were wrong. So fix it." Yep. Gov needs to allow pay progression in role. It might sound small, but this stuff matters. New report out today makes the case for this change among others.

A few thoughts on Streeting's speech: 1) Streeting majored on decentralising power in NHS. But he's overseeing huge concentration of power into his and DHSC's hands while merging ICBs into larger, less local bodies 2) No mention of social care reform. Continues to be the govt's greatest failure...

Can someone at the IFG conference please keep a tally on mentions of the word "grip"

Louise Casey really bringing to life what this means in practice for how stuff gets done in the civil service: "And I look at a grade 5 [deputy director] and think god love you, on a good day you might make a decision that an HEO used to make"

Louise Casey blunt on grade inflation in the civil service - compares decisions grade 5s make now to those fast streamers used to make…

It’s Whitehall Monitor launch day - check out the headlines from our major new report in this thread from @hannahkeenan.bsky.social ⬇️

Streeting says that centralisation has ‘infantilised’ the NHS and he’s scrapping NHSE because you can’t run the NHS from ‘two offices’ in London. Yet scrapping NHSE gives him more power, with the NHS now arguably run from one office in London

New - Streeting goes full throttle on the idea that politicians can't make the state work and that "nothing happens" when levers are pulled. "Where there aren’t levers, we build them. Where there are barriers, we bulldoze them. Where there is poor performance, we challenge it."

This is getting going now, will live tweet some of the highlights of what Streeting says Thread below...

Delighted that Wes Streeting will be kicking off our Government 2026 conference - bright and early tomorrow ⬇️ Other speakers through the day include Mel Stride, Darren Jones, Louise Casey, Andy Burnham, Michael Gove, Ed Balls, Ayesha Hazarika and many more