Keir Starmer has announced his resignation, becoming the latest PM unable to see out a term in office But he won't stop being prime minister just yet - as the process to replace him gets underway Starmer will continue to man the ship as PM (but for how long depends on the Labour leadership contest)

Details on the contest from @timdurrant.bsky.social & @meganbryer.bsky.social available👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/la...

Andy Burnham has won in Makerfield with 55% of the vote share. But this wasn't your average by-election. Voters in Makerfield could well have determined how long Starmer has left in office, and who could succeed him as the next prime minister. Here's our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk breakdown... 🧵

Once again (and yes, there is other news now), I have had some thoughts on WhatsApp in government:

The violent attacks in Belfast have been horrendous. With family there, it’s hard to know what to say. But @timdurrant.bsky.social and I have been looking at how ministers can lead during and after a crisis - and why it matters that the underlying issues aren’t all the same as the rest of the UK

Minister for the Armed Forces Al Carns announced his resignation yesterday evening, writing that the Defence Investment Plan 'is neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded'. This brings the total of ministerial resignations from Starmer's govt up to 20. @instituteforgovernment.org.uk

John Healey becomes the 19th minister to resign from Keir Starmer's government. Here's a handy recap of all 19 and why they resigned. Read our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk explainer on ministerial resignations for more info! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/mi...

Defence secretary John Healey has just resigned over the govt's Defence Investment Plan, writing that it "falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time". We're getting our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk resignation chart fired back up..

The government announced yesterday that it's launching a democratic engagement fund £2.5m for civil society orgs Aim - to find out what what interventions support groups with historically low turn out and participation to engage in democracy Interesting idea! Very small ££ but one to watch

A short piece from me in Civil Service World this week outlining the key arguments from mine and @paddy-mcalary.bsky.social's new paper on the relationship between ministers and the civil service. We draw on the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's fantastic Ministers Reflect archive... Read below!

Great piece by @meganbryer.bsky.social on our new paper on ministers & the civil service drawing on @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Ministers Reflect interviews What do ministers like about the civil service, what do they dislike & how could this relationship work better? Read more about it 👇

A new paper published today by @paddy-mcalary.bsky.social and me draws on the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's archive of interviews with former ministers to set out, in ministers’ own words, their experience of working with the civil service... 🧵 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

First up, @meganbryer.bsky.social and @rebeccamckee.bsky.social looked at what former ministers in the devolved governments had to say about making a success of their time in Cardiff and Edinburgh - plenty of good advice for the new ministers taking on those roles at the moment:

Following the devolved elections, first ministers Rhun ap Iorwerth and John Swinney have made their ministerial appointments. A new paper from @rebeccamckee.bsky.social and me draws on the IfG’s Ministers Reflect archive to outline key lessons on how to be an effective devolved government minister.

As the UK government wobbles, the one at the other end of the M4 is getting set up - yesterday Welsh ministers were approved by the Senedd. Ahead of the election, we set out the mistakes they needed to avoid as they took office www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/new-...

Health secretary Wes Streeting has just resigned from government, writing in his resignation letter that he has lost confidence in the PM - "where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift". We're live updating our chart here at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk

New ministerial appointments have been made following yesterday's 4 resignations. Our updated waffle chart and explainer has the latest info... 1/4

Health innovation and safety minister Zubir Ahmed becomes the fourth minister to resign today, writing that "the public across the UK has now irretrievably lost confidence" in Starmer as prime minister. See our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk ministerial resignations chart for the latest:

Alex Davies-Jones (minister for victims and tackling violence against women and girls) becomes the third minister to resign from government today, citing the "catastrophic" electoral defeats last week in her resignation letter and urging the prime minister to set out a timetable for his departure.

Jess Phillips - minister for safeguarding violence against women and girls - becomes the second minister to resign today, telling the PM that "deeds, not words are what matter". Our explainer @instituteforgovernment.org.uk has info on all 15 ministers that have resigned since Labour took office...

Yesterday also saw resignations from within the ranks of the parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs, or unpaid assistants to government ministers). But what is a PPS and what is their role? Our explainer has all you need to know...

Miatta Fahnbulleh - the minister for devolution, faith and communities - has resigned from govt this morning, calling on the PM to set a timetable for an orderly transition of leadership. Our ministerial resignation tracker has the latest info... docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Today at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk, we publish a brand new set of Ministers Reflect interviews with Steve Baker, Gillian Keegan and Danny Alexander. They discussed what makes for effective ministerial leadership, the challenges of the role and their proudest achievements in post...

Parliament will be prorogued today until 13 May when it meets again for the state opening This marks the end of the 2024-26 session, which at 21 months is longer than a usual session. But it's become quite normal for the first session after an election to be extended Why?

I've been following the assisted dying bill for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk for the last 18 months - this feels like a very unsatisfactory ending for everyone involved or invested, whatever their views on the outcome. Some thoughts below 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/assi...

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...

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...

Government should devolve greater responsibility for employment support. Our report, published today, sets out how government could better support people out of work due to ill health: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/... Why write this now?

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/🧵

Three weeks to go until the Senedd Cymru elections What do we want? Welsh language content! When do we want it? Now! Very excited we’re publishing two comment pieces in Welsh about the election in the land of my fathers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @meganbryer.bsky.social @howesdaniel.bsky.social top translators

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.

Our research internships are an opportunity for anyone looking to start a career in policy to gain experience working on some of the thorniest problems that the UK government faces. Watch as our 2025-26 cohort tell us more about the projects they work on - and what they are particularly proud of.

A new report from the IfG published today sets out 4 key lessons for ministers on how they can be effective leaders of public service reform. A thread of our main findings below… www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

A genuinely big announcement on English devolution from Rachel Reeves today! As we at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk alongside others have argued fiscal devolution was a missing piece of the puzzle in the government's devolution white paper.

Shortly the Commons will (presumably) approve new legislation expanding the number of ministerial paid posts, in practice only creating new paid roles in the Lords (there is a separate cap on the number of ministers allowed in the Commons, paid or unpaid, and that's not changing)...

Is this a sign the government is planning a reshuffle, and/or some other restructure of departments and ministerial responsibilities? We shall see. In the meantime, check out @meganbryer.bsky.social's @instituteforgovernment.org.uk explainer on ministerial limits here

Darren Jones is due to announce a citizens' assembly as part of the government's consultation on digital ID cards What is a citizens' assembly and how have they been used before? See our handy @instituteforgovernment.org.uk explainer ⬇️

Josh Simons’ resignation last week has brought Starmer’s govt up to a total of 13 ministerial resignations – the highest number of any recent PM at this stage of their tenure. Who has been appointed to replace Simons and how many ministers are there now in total…? 🧵

Since the government reshuffle in Sept25, the representation of women among cabinet ministers has dropped slightly from 48% to 44% - but remains higher than under any previous prime minister. Ahead of International Women’s Day, here's some insights from our interviews with women who served in govt

Student loans have been in the news lately. But how does student finance actually work? @martha-ford.bsky.social explains what financial support the government offers students in England www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/st...

Yesterday, the Gorton and Denton by-election saw the Green Party claim victory. But what is a by-election? What triggers one? How do they work? Read our explainer to find out more: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/by...

Labour has lost two by-elections since the 2024 general election. Our updated explainer has all you need to know about the latest Gorton and Denton by-election, which the Green Party's Hannah Spencer won with 41% of the votes. Previously in the 2024 GE, Labour won the seat with 51% of the vote.

New comment piece from me and @hcdunlop.bsky.social on independent commissioners. We say that govts fail to recognise the long-term commitment that comes with establishing commissioners. Commissioners need sufficient resources and ongoing engagement from govt to maintain credibility and succeed.

New comment from @danhaile.bsky.social, @jillongovt.bsky.social and me on why next Tuesday's spring forecast should ideally be a fiscal "non-event". We don't expect major shifts in the economic outlook, and so shouldn't see the "knee-jerk" policy responses of past spring statements.

Yesterday the Cabinet Office published the ministerial direction on Chris Wormald's exit payment 👇 This has been discussed a bit in the media, mainly in terms of 'civil service tried to block the huge payout' A few points on this.. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Yesterday, the PM issued a ministerial direction to Cabinet Office perm sec Cat Little relating to Chris Wormald's severance package after he stepped down as cabinet secretary. Why was a ministerial direction needed? Thread below and our updated explainer has all you need to know:

After Darren Jones joined IfG this week, @hannahkeenan.bsky.social and I had some thoughts about how he can make good on his plans for reforming the state: - show that his plan is different to those that have come before - ensure he's not spreading himself too thinly - set a clear vision

Since the 2024 general election, 11 ministers have resigned from Keir Starmer’s government. Which ministers have resigned and why? New explainer by @meganbryer.bsky.social is out now! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/expl...

📝Our new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report with @jackpannell.bsky.social & @emmanorris.bsky.social out today sets out out the underlying problems with the way public inquiries are established We argue ministers need better support to make informed decisions about how an inquiry should be set up

1/ The latest ONS data on public sector employment shows that the civil service has grown (again). After 2 consecutive quarters of plateauing growth, the CS grew in Q3 by 3490 (0.6%) to 520440 FTE. This is the highest quarterly increase since Labour came to power. @instituteforgovernment.org.uk