What Is The Civil Service? And Why Starmer Needs To Collaborate To Bring Stability

What are Prime Ministers really like behind closed doors? How do you become Britain’s most powerful civil servant? Are special advisors a force for good or ill?

On today’s episode of Leading, Rory and Alastair are joined by Gus O’Donnell, the former Cabinet Secretary and Head of Civil Service, to answer all these questions and more.

00:00 Intro
01:18 David Cameron’s first day in office
05:05 Gus O’Donnell’s advice for a new prime minister
07:08 Collaboration between ministers & civil servants
12:42 The problems of chopping and changing ministers
14:46 Bonds with Prime Ministers you worked for
19:07 How does the permanent civil service work?
24:35 Rory’s experience with civil servants
29:48 Difference between impartiality and independence
31:11 The relationship between civil servants and special advisors
42:28 The role of the press in our political debate
44:29 Measuring success by population wellbeing not GDP
47:45 Are reform and radical performance possible together?
52:23 Debrief
56:51 Outro

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