DOCSLIB.ORG

Ministers, Special Advisers and the Permanent Civil Service

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ministers, Special Advisers and the Permanent Civil Service Committee on Standards in Public Life Defining the Boundaries within the Executive: Ministers, Special Advisers and the permanent Civil Service Ninth Report Cm 5775 The Seven Principles of Public Life Selflessness Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, their family or their friends. Integrity Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties. Objectivity In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit. Accountability Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office. Openness Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands. Honesty Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest. Leadership Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example. Ninth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life Chair: Sir Nigel Wicks GCB CVO CBE Defining the Boundaries within the Executive: Ministers, Special Advisers and the permanent Civil Service Report Presented to Parliament by the Prime Minister by Command of Her Majesty April 2003 Cm 5775 £21.00 (inc. VAT in UK) i Ninth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life © Crown Copyright 2003 The text in this document may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified. Any enquiries relating to the copyright in this document should be addressed to The Licensing Division, HMSO, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ. Fax: 01603 723000 or e-mail: [email protected]. ii Committee on Standards Standards in in Public Life Public Life Chair: April 2003 Sir Nigel Wicks GCB CVO CBE I am pleased to present the Committee’s Ninth Report, which deals with Boundaries within the Executive. The Committee’s First and Sixth Reports made recommendations relating to members of the Executive: Ministers, civil servants and special advisers. This report reviews the implementation of these recommendations, taking account of the reference in our terms of reference to “examine current concerns”, and of developments within the Executive since the Committee’s Sixth Report. We took as the framework for our Report the Seven Principles of Public Life and their three supporting mechanisms, codes of conduct, independent scrutiny and guidance and education, all of which had been recommended in the Committee’s First Report. The evidence presented to us suggested that there is a need to clarify the definitions and secure the maintenance of the boundaries within the Executive. This would, we believe, provide assurance to the public that government is carried out in accordance with the Seven Principles of Public Life. It would provide a robust framework for ensuring that the Civil Service is fit for purpose and can play its full part in delivering the programme of the government of the day. It would also help office holders within the Executive continue to build and to sustain the relationships necessary for good government. Finally, it would help prevent the unfortunate events which, though occasional, occur when there is a breakdown in relationships between Ministers, civil servants and special advisers and which are corrosive to the public’s estimation of office holders in the Executive. We have, accordingly, made a series of recommendations, which address public concerns in particular areas. We have recommended changes to the Ministerial Code and to the way in which compliance of the Code is monitored and any breaches are investigated. We have recommended a change too to the status of special advisers, who are currently classed as temporary civil servants. Another area of our recommendations concerns the maintenance of the core Civil Service values, particularly impartiality from political party, whilst ensuring that the Service remains “fit for purpose”. We also make recommendations concerning the Office of the Prime Minister and the Government Information and Communication Service. We consider it crucial that the procedures for sustaining the fundamental principles identified throughout this report should be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and decision. We therefore recommend statutory legislation to implement our key recommendations. Taken together, we believe that our recommendations will help to ensure the highest standards of propriety of office holders in the Executive and so enhance public trust in government and thereby strengthen our democracy. Nigel Wicks iii Ninth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life CONTENTS LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS 1 ᕡ Chapter INTRODUCTION 5 The First and Sixth Reports 5 The purpose and scope of the present inquiry 6 Gathering evidence 6 The framework within which the Committee works 7 Acknowledgements 7 Chapter ᕢ BOUNDARIES WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE: THE COMMITTEE’S INTEREST 9 Leadership 9 Objectivity/impartiality 10 Accountability 10 Openness 10 ᕣ Chapter DEFINING THE BOUNDARIES 13 Boundaries and relationships 13 The constitutional framework 14 Party in government 14 Ministers, the permanent Civil Service and special advisers 15 ᕤ Chapter THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE 17 The increased focus on delivery 17 Changing demands on the Civil Service 18 Government and the media 19 ᕥ Chapter MINISTERS 21 Leadership 21 Accountability 21 Objectivity 21 The Ministerial Code 22 Compliance 22 Advice on conflicts of interest 23 An Adviser on Ministerial Interests 25 Investigation 27 Guidance and education 29 iv Contents ᕦ Chapter THE PERMANENT CIVIL SERVICE 31 The Committee’s interest 31 Making the Civil Service fit for purpose 31 Serving the Government of the day 31 Some concerns 33 The overall effect of change 33 Recruitment 34 Selection on merit 34 Applying the principle of selection on merit 35 Exceptions to the rules 36 Ministerial involvement in recruitment 36 Short-term appointments and secondments 37 The principle of selection on merit and a Civil Service fit for purpose 38 Working relationships: The Principal Private Secretary 38 Upholding the values of the permanent Civil Service: the Code, training and induction and independent scrutiny 39 Dispute resolution 40 Appointment of the First Civil Service Commissioner 42 ᕧ Chapter SPECIAL ADVISERS 43 Status 43 Categories 45 Role 46 The legal definition of a special adviser 46 Accountability 48 Compliance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers 49 Funding 49 Numbers 50 Unpaid advisers 51 The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers 52 Training and induction 53 Chapter ᕨ THE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SERVICE 55 Upholding the values of the GICS 56 A GICS fit for purpose 57 Impartiality and the application of the principle of selection on merit 58 Special advisers and the GICS 59 v Ninth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life ᕩ Chapter THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE 61 “Special and different” 61 The Committee’s interest 61 Developments in the organisation of the Prime Minister’s Office 62 Number of special advisers in the Prime Minister’s Office 62 “Executive powers” 64 Guidance on the practice of media work in the Prime Minister’s Office 66 µ Chapter SECURING THE BOUNDARIES 67 The need for legislation 67 The commitment to legislation 69 Progress towards an Act 69 What should an Act contain? 70 ¸ Chapter SUSTAINING PUBLIC TRUST 73 Appendices 74 AFirst and Sixth Report recommendations 74 B List of submissions 77 C List of witnesses who gave oral evidence 78 D Previous reports by the Committee on Standards in Public Life 80 EThe Civil Service Code 81 FThe role of the Civil Service Commissioners 83 List of abbreviations and acronyms 84 About the Committee 85 Bibliography 87 vi List of recommendations LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS Chapter 5: Ministers (f) The facts of ministerial interests should be published. R1. (a) Material currently contained in the Ministerial Code which covers departmental and (g) Where unforeseen conflicts arise parliamentary custom and practice should be subsequently during the course of a department’s published separately as a Ministerial Handbook. work, the Minister should consult the Adviser over what action might be necessary. (b) The substantive material on issues of conduct should form a new Ministerial Code, which (h) The Adviser should refer any breach or should be defined as having equal weight and allegation of a breach to the Prime Minister. authority to the Civil Service Code and the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. (page 22) (i) The Adviser should be appointed by open competition, chaired by the First Civil Service R2. The Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretaries Commissioner, for a fixed, non-renewable term. should have no responsibility for giving advice to Ministers on conflicts of interest arising under (j) The Adviser should be provided with the Ministerial Code. (page 25) appropriate resources to achieve his or her task. (page 27) R3. (a) An independent office-holder, called an Adviser on Ministerial Interests, should be R4. (a) At the beginning of each Parliament, the established to provide advice to Ministers on Prime Minister should nominate two or three compliance with those sections of the individuals of senior standing after consultation Ministerial Code which cover the avoidance of with leaders of the major opposition parties.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • United Nations Convention Against Corruption
    United Nations Convention against Corruption Self-assessment Name: UK Second Cycle Review-20180108-134632 Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Date of creation: 24/11/2017 Assessor: Renny Mendoza Assessor Position: International Policy Advisor: Joint Anti-Corruption Unit Release: 3.0.0.15 Comments: Completed self-assessment checklists should be sent to: Corruption and Economic Crime Section Division for Treaty Affairs United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Vienna International Centre PO Box 500 1400 Vienna, Austria Attn: KAMBERSKA Natasha Telephone: + (43) (1) 26060-4293 Telefax: + (43) (1) 26060-74293 E-mail: [email protected] A. General information A. General information 1. General information 1519 1 Focal point: Renny Mendoza 2 Institutions consulted: Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office, National Crime Agency, Her Majesty’s Treasury, Ministry of Justice, Financial Conduct Authority, HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Department for International Development. 3 Please provide information on the ratification/acceptance/approval/accession process of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in your country (date of ratification/acceptance/approval of/accession to the Convention, date of entry into force of the Convention in your country, procedure to be followed for ratification/acceptance/approval of/accession to international conventions etc.). UNCAC Ratification Signature date: 9 December 2003 Ratification date: 9 February 2006 Entry into force date: 11 March 2006 Procedure to be followed for ratification of international conventions: The United Kingdom (UK) is a ‘dualist’ state. The UK constitution accords no special status to treaties: rights and obligations created by treaties have no effect in UK law unless legislation is in force to give effect to them.
    [Show full text]
  • Queen's Bench Division (Divisional Court)
    Queen's Bench Division (Divisional Court) Lord Justice Rix, Justice Forbes First Instance application for judicial review 14 December 2004 JUDGMENT Lord Justice Rix: 1 This is the judgment of the court to which both members have contributed. Introduction 2 The claimants in these proceedings are all relatives of deceased Iraqi civilians ("the deceased"), who have been killed by or in the course of action taken by British soldiers in the period following completion of major combat operations in Iraq and prior to the assumption of authority by the Iraqi Interim Government (i.e. the period 1 May 2003 to 28 June 2004). The defendant is the Secretary of State for Defence ("the Secretary of State"). 3 This judgment is concerned with the determination of two preliminary issues (as to which, see paragraphs 5 and 6 below) arising out of the claimants' application for judicial review of the Secretary of State's alleged failure and/or refusal: (i) to conduct independent inquiries into the deaths of the deceased, (ii) to accept liability for those deaths and (iii) to pay just satisfaction. 4 Stated in general terms, the claimants' application for judicial review concerns the legal responsibilities of the Secretary of State under section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 ("the HRA") in relation to the civilian deaths in question. It is the claimants' case (as originally pleaded) that the Secretary of State acted in breach of section 6 of the HRA, in particular by his violation of the procedural obligations under article 2 (the right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights ("the Convention"), in failing and/or refusing to conduct independent inquiries into the deaths of the various deceased.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to the Government for BIA Members
    A guide to the Government for BIA members Correct as of 26 June 2020 This is a briefing for BIA members on the Government led by Boris Johnson and key ministerial appointments for our sector after the December 2019 General Election and February 2020 Cabinet reshuffle. Following the Conservative Party’s compelling victory, the Government now holds a majority of 80 seats in the House of Commons. The life sciences sector is high on the Government’s agenda and Boris Johnson has pledged to make the UK “the leading global hub for life sciences after Brexit”. With its strong majority, the Government has the power to enact the policies supportive of the sector in the Conservatives 2019 Manifesto. All in all, this indicates a positive outlook for life sciences during this Government’s tenure. Contents: Ministerial and policy maker positions in the new Government relevant to the life sciences sector .......................................................................................... 2 Ministers and policy maker profiles................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Ministerial and policy maker positions in the new Government relevant to the life sciences sector* *Please note that this guide only covers ministers and responsibilities relevant to the life sciences and will be updated as further roles and responsibilities are announced. Department Position Holder Relevant responsibility Holder in
    [Show full text]
  • Yougov / the Sunday Times Survey Results
    YouGov / The Sunday Times Survey Results Sample Size: 1011 Labour Party Members Fieldwork: 7th - 9th September 2010 1st Preference - September 2010 1st Preference - July 2010 September Choice July Choice Gender Age Diane Andy David Ed Diane Andy David Ed David Ed David Ed Total Ed Balls Ed Balls Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Abbott Burnham Miliband Miliband Abbott Burnham Miliband Miliband Miliband Miliband Miliband Miliband Weighted Sample 1008 106 86 91 354 287 99 45 65 244 209 431 474 320 340 577 432 331 303 374 Unweighted Sample 1011 102 89 97 344 296 93 45 69 239 221 429 485 310 353 654 357 307 317 387 % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 1st Preference - September 2010 [Excluding Don't know and Wouldn't Vote] David Miliband 38 0001000824 9 79 16 83 0 68 11 36 42 41 39 35 Ed Miliband 31 00001001114 13 11 69 1 62 11 50 31 31 33 28 33 Diane Abbott 11 1000000702 3144164181112131111 Andy Burnham 10 001000029 66 4 6 7 10 10 10 12 7 8 10 11 Ed Balls 9 0100000852 10 5 6 5 12 7 11 10 8 5 13 10 Weighted Sample 846 92 82 84 320 268 84 41 55 214 186 384 427 279 296 493 353 280 258 308 Unweighted Sample 849 90 85 89 308 277 80 41 58 207 199 380 438 268 309 555 294 260 266 323 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 2nd Preference - September 2010 [Excluding Don't know and Wouldn't Vote] Ed Miliband 30 53 48 34 43 0 42 32 25 33 22 35 27 30 29 29 32 32 33 26 Ed Balls 22 200 2825251936 26 23 21 23 21 24 22 23 21 20 23 23 Andy Burnham 19 14 17 0 21 24 14 18 19 21 18 19 19 19 18 18 20 21 20 16 David Miliband 17 13 20 30 0 35 13 12 24 10 27 13 21 16 20 17 17 15 12 23 Diane Abbott 11 0 15 8 11 16 11 2 7 12 12 9 12 11 11 12 10 12 11 12 Weighted Sample 905 90 74 75 351 285 82 40 56 233 203 431 474 299 319 519 387 303 267 336 Unweighted Sample 914 87 78 84 341 293 79 40 60 228 214 429 485 290 334 592 322 283 280 351 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Miliband preference - September [Excluding definitely wouldn't vote] David Miliband 48 19 28 41 100 1 25 34 37 86 17 100 0 80 17 47 49 48 46 48 Ed Miliband 52 81 72 59 0 99 75 66 63 14 83 0 100 20 83 53 51 52 54 52 1 © 2010 YouGov plc.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Note: Former Special Advisers in Cabinet, 1979-2013
    Research Note: Former Special Advisers in Cabinet, 1979-2013 Executive Summary Sixteen special advisers have gone on to become Cabinet Ministers. This means that of the 492 special advisers listed in the Constitution Unit database in the period 1979-2010, only 3% entered Cabinet. Seven Conservative party Cabinet members were formerly special advisers. o Four Conservative special advisers went on to become Cabinet Ministers in the 1979-1997 period of Conservative governments. o Three former Conservative special advisers currently sit in the Coalition Cabinet: David Cameron, George Osborne and Jonathan Hill. Eight Labour Cabinet members between 1997-2010 were former special advisers. o Five of the eight former special advisers brought into the Labour Cabinet between 1997-2010 had been special advisers to Tony Blair or Gordon Brown. o Jack Straw entered Cabinet in 1997 having been a special adviser before 1979. One Liberal Democrat Cabinet member, Vince Cable, was previously a special adviser to a Labour minister. The Coalition Cabinet of January 2013 currently has four members who were once special advisers. o Also attending Cabinet meetings is another former special adviser: Oliver Letwin as Minister of State for Policy. There are traditionally 21 or 22 Ministers who sit in Cabinet. Unsurprisingly, the number and proportion of Cabinet Ministers who were previously special advisers generally increases the longer governments go on. The number of Cabinet Ministers who were formerly special advisers was greatest at the end of the Labour administration (1997-2010) when seven of the Cabinet Ministers were former special advisers. The proportion of Cabinet made up of former special advisers was greatest in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet when almost one-third (30.5%) of the Cabinet were former special advisers.
    [Show full text]
  • Download (9MB)
    A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details 2018 Behavioural Models for Identifying Authenticity in the Twitter Feeds of UK Members of Parliament A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF UK MPS’ TWEETS BETWEEN 2011 AND 2012; A LONGITUDINAL STUDY MARK MARGARETTEN Mark Stuart Margaretten Submitted for the degree of Doctor of PhilosoPhy at the University of Sussex June 2018 1 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ 1 DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 5 FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................... 6 TABLES ............................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Cabinet Manual
    The Cabinet Manual A guide to laws, conventions and rules on the operation of government 1st edition October 2011 The Cabinet Manual A guide to laws, conventions and rules on the operation of government 1st edition October 2011 Foreword by the Prime Minister On entering government I set out, Cabinet has endorsed the Cabinet Manual as an authoritative guide for ministers and officials, with the Deputy Prime Minister, our and I expect everyone working in government to shared desire for a political system be mindful of the guidance it contains. that is looked at with admiration This country has a rich constitution developed around the world and is more through history and practice, and the Cabinet transparent and accountable. Manual is invaluable in recording this and in ensuring that the workings of government are The Cabinet Manual sets out the internal rules far more open and accountable. and procedures under which the Government operates. For the first time the conventions determining how the Government operates are transparently set out in one place. Codifying and publishing these sheds welcome light on how the Government interacts with the other parts of our democratic system. We are currently in the first coalition Government David Cameron for over 60 years. The manual sets out the laws, Prime Minister conventions and rules that do not change from one administration to the next but also how the current coalition Government operates and recent changes to legislation such as the establishment of fixed-term Parliaments. The content of the Cabinet Manual is not party political – it is a record of fact, and I welcome the role that the previous government, select committees and constitutional experts have played in developing it in draft to final publication.
    [Show full text]
  • Insideout in Defence of Special Advisers: Lessons from Personal Experience
    In Defence of Special Advisers: Lessons from Personal Experience Nick Hillman INSIDE InsideOUT A series of personal perspectives on government eectiveness 9 This essay is dedicated to my children, Ben and Amity, who were born while I was a special adviser. I promise to repay the bedtime stories I missed. 2 InsideOUT InsideOUT In Defence of Special Advisers: Lessons from Personal Experience Nick Hillman InsideOUT 3 TRANSFORMATION IN THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE 2010 interim evaluation report Foreword Nick Hillman’s InsideOUT provides the most valuable recent insight into the work of that most misunderstood Whitehall species – the special adviser. The value lies, first, in being up-to-date when much of the discussion of special advisers goes back to the scandals and battles of the Blair/Brown years; and, second, in being written from the perspective of a department rather than the centre. That is crucial in understanding how advisers operate, particularly in the age of coalition, and how they contribute to the work of their ministers, as opposed to the Prime Minister. You would expect that someone who worked for David Willetts to operate in a less highly charged world than in some of the familiar stab-and-tell accounts of ex-advisers. That is an advantage and allows Hillman to concentrate on the key issues, not just, persuasively, in defence of spads but also in suggesting how the system can be improved. Without repeating all his arguments, I would like to discuss one issue which he highlights – the lack of proper preparation and training. Working in Parliament as chief of staff to a member of the Shadow Cabinet, as Hillman did, can, as he says, feel more like a micro-business than part of a great ship of state.
    [Show full text]
  • Uk Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (Cr&Gb)
    LEGISLATIVE CONSENT MEMORANDUM UK CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AND GOVERNANCE BILL Draft Legislative Consent Motion 1. The draft motion, which will be lodged by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, is: “That the Parliament agrees that the relevant provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 20 July 2009, relating to the Civil Service and Human Rights Claims against Devolved Administrations, so far as these matters alter the executive competence of Scottish Ministers, should be considered by the UK Parliament.” Background 2. This memorandum has been lodged by John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, under Rule 9.B.3.1 (a) of the Parliament’s standing orders. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 20 July 2009. The Bill can be found at: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/constitutionalreformandgovernance.html. Content of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill 3. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill relates to (i) the Civil Service; (ii) Ratification of Treaties; (iii) The House of Lords; (iv) Public Order; (v) Time Limits for Human Rights Actions Against Devolved Administrations; (vi) Courts and Tribunals; (vii) National Audit; (viii) Transparency of Government Financial Reporting to Parliament. Provisions Which Relate to Scotland 4. It is only certain Civil Service provisions in the Bill that alter the executive competence of Scottish Ministers 5. The Civil Service in Scotland is part of the unified “Home Civil Service” operating in Great Britain. The Northern Ireland Civil Service is separate. The Bill would put the Home Civil Service on a statutory footing without altering the administrative arrangements currently established through Orders in Council.
    [Show full text]
  • Participant List
    Participant List 10/20/2019 8:45:44 AM Category First Name Last Name Position Organization Nationality CSO Jillian Abballe UN Advocacy Officer and Anglican Communion United States Head of Office Ramil Abbasov Chariman of the Managing Spektr Socio-Economic Azerbaijan Board Researches and Development Public Union Babak Abbaszadeh President and Chief Toronto Centre for Global Canada Executive Officer Leadership in Financial Supervision Amr Abdallah Director, Gulf Programs Educaiton for Employment - United States EFE HAGAR ABDELRAHM African affairs & SDGs Unit Maat for Peace, Development Egypt AN Manager and Human Rights Abukar Abdi CEO Juba Foundation Kenya Nabil Abdo MENA Senior Policy Oxfam International Lebanon Advisor Mala Abdulaziz Executive director Swift Relief Foundation Nigeria Maryati Abdullah Director/National Publish What You Pay Indonesia Coordinator Indonesia Yussuf Abdullahi Regional Team Lead Pact Kenya Abdulahi Abdulraheem Executive Director Initiative for Sound Education Nigeria Relationship & Health Muttaqa Abdulra'uf Research Fellow International Trade Union Nigeria Confederation (ITUC) Kehinde Abdulsalam Interfaith Minister Strength in Diversity Nigeria Development Centre, Nigeria Kassim Abdulsalam Zonal Coordinator/Field Strength in Diversity Nigeria Executive Development Centre, Nigeria and Farmers Advocacy and Support Initiative in Nig Shahlo Abdunabizoda Director Jahon Tajikistan Shontaye Abegaz Executive Director International Insitute for Human United States Security Subhashini Abeysinghe Research Director Verite
    [Show full text]
  • Ministers Reflect Lord Mcnally
    Ministers reflect Lord McNally December 2015 2 Lord McNally Biographical details House of Lords 1995-present: Liberal Democrat Member Parliamentary Career 2010-2013: Minister of State for Justice 2010-2013: Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 3 Lord McNally Lord McNally was interviewed by Nicola Hughes and Peter Riddell on 21st July 2015 for the Institute for Government’s Ministers Reflect Project Nicola Hughes (NH): Thinking back to when you first started as a minister, I know you’ve had a long career in politics, but particularly focusing on the 2010 period, what was your experience of coming into government like? Lord McNally: Um, chaotic. As you say, I had been in Whitehall as a special adviser in the Foreign Office and Number 10, and therefore I had, and still have, stories that start ‘When I...’ which caused great amusement to colleagues. But the outcome of the 2010 election, although we’d done more planning I think than any third party had done before about how you handle a hung Parliament, the idea that you’d actually end up in a working coalition was still quite surprising. I had two jobs on offer in 2010: one was the Ministry of Justice, and the other was Deputy Leader of the Lords. And just to give you an idea, after about 48 hours and no clear instructions or guidance from Nick Clegg about what we should be doing in the Lords, I contacted Nick to get a rather surprised, ‘But I thought you handled that all yourself in the Lords?’ I said, ‘Not government ministers.
    [Show full text]
  • Survey Report
    YouGov /The Sun Survey Results Sample Size: 1102 Labour Voting Labour Party Affiliated Trade Unionists Fieldwork: 27th - 29th July 2010 First Choice Affiliated Trade Yourself on Left-Right Social First Choice Voting Intention VI Excluding Gender Age Unions scale Grade Mililands Very/ Diane Ed Andy David Ed Abbott, Balls & Slightly Centre Under Over Total Unison Unite GMB Fairly M F ABC1 C2DE Abbott Balls Burnham Miliband Miliband Burnham Left and Right 40 40 Left Weighted Sample 1094 148 100 116 301 230 364 357 346 166 455 347 171 654 440 279 815 621 473 Unweighted Sample 1102 150 100 116 309 232 366 481 305 122 467 354 171 703 399 276 826 635 467 % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % As you probably know, the Labour Party is holding an election to decide its next leader. Where would you place each of the candidates on this scale?* Diane Abbott Very left-wing 17 12 15 26 20 23 17 16 19 18 22 20 12 21 13 21 16 21 13 Fairly left-wing 32 50 28 42 32 34 41 33 35 31 40 42 16 34 29 22 36 36 27 Slightly left-of-centre 14 20 18 14 14 14 17 14 15 15 17 17 11 16 12 12 15 13 15 Centre 5 5 6 3 5 7 5 5 4 8 5 4 9 5 5 7 5 6 4 Slightly right-of-centre 4 1 7 2 4 4 3 3 3 5 4 2 8 3 4 3 4 4 3 Fairly right-wing 1 1 0 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 2 1 1 Very right-wing 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Don't know 26 12 26 11 24 14 15 27 22 22 12 14 39 19 36 34 23 19 34 Average* -56 -57 -49 -62 -56 -57 -56 -57 -57 -53 -59 -61 -32 -57 -54 -60 -54 -59 -55 * Very left-wing=-100; fairly left-wing=-67; slightly left-of- centre=-33; centre=0; slightly right-of-centre=+33;
    [Show full text]