These are tumultuous times in UK politics. Government is under strain, the civil service is under pressure, and ministers are grappling with the fallout of Covi...
The new cabinet secretary: Can Sir Chris Wormald rewire the British state?
After weeks of speculation, and many rounds of interviews, Sir Chris Wormald has been confirmed as the UK’s new cabinet secretary. But who is Chris Wormald, why has Keir Starmer appointed him, and how can he succeed as the country’s top civil servant?
David Lidington, the former minister for the Cabinet Office and Theresa May’s one-time de facto deputy prime minister, joins the IfG team to make sense of someone who is both the conventional pick and yet also the surprise choice for the job of the country’s top civil servant.
What does Wormald bring to the role? What is waiting in his in-tray? How exactly could he set about that big rewiring job? And what steps he can take to ensure the civil service can deliver Keir Starmer’s priorities?
Presented by Emma Norris.
With Cath Haddon and Alex Thomas.
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51:12
Cabi-not yet Secretary
It’s a competition that has gripped the nation. The candidates have been whittled down. The country is on tenterhooks. Strictly? Of course not. We’re talking about the appointment of the next cabinet secretary. The Guardian’s Rafael Behr joins the podcast team to speculate about who might get the job – and what they need to do.
How can the government get more people back to work? It has published a new “Get Britain Working” white paper for starters, but what does it set out and is this any different to anything we have heard before?
Plus: Does the government have an electric car problem?
Hannah White presents.
With Alex Thomas and Nehal Davison.
Produced by Robin Leeburn for Podmasters
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42:55
Starmer’s Farmer Drama
Keir Starmer has been on his travels again, but it has been a tricky week at home for the government. Tim Ross and Rachel Wearmouth, the authors of new book Landslide: The Inside Story of the 2024 Election, join the podcast team to discuss how Labour returned to power – and how Starmer and his team are faring.
The Budget has gone down very badly with Britain’s farm owners and a private members’ bill on assisted dying is posing a big headache for Starmer. How much worse could things get? And from bruising encounters to a political bruiser, the former deputy prime minister John Prescott, a key figure in the last Labour government, has died. The pod team look back on Prescott’s legacy.
PLUS: Labour is promising to set up a lot of new public bodies: 17 and counting. A new IfG report has been tracking their progress, and reveals how to succeed, or not, when setting these bodies up.
Cath Haddon presents, with Giles Wilkes and Matthew Gill. Produced by Jade Bailey for Podmasters and the IfG.
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43:42
Donald Trump's Team Calls
We are living in a different world. Donald Trump’s world.
Kim Darroch, the UK's former ambassador to the US, joins the podcast team to make sense of what could be some jaw-dropping appointments to the Trump administration.
The UK government has been scrambling to make sense of it all too - responding in measured tones while potentially bracing for impact. So how should Keir Starmer handle the new Trump era?
Plus: COP29. The prime minister has been on his travels again - this time to Azerbaijan for a major climate change summit.
Hannah White presents.
With Alex Thomas and Jill Rutter.
Produced by Candice McKenzie
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38:25
In Conversation with Michael Gove
Michael Gove spent more than a decade as a senior government minister, including as secretary of state for education, justice and levelling up. He was one of the longest-serving ministers of the last government – and one with perhaps the most ambitious plans for public service reform. He was also, arguably, the most successful at making those plans happen.
To look back on his time in government, the reforms he introduced or tried to introduced, and to share his lessons for the current government and Conservative opposition, thew newly-appointed Spectator editor took part in wide-ranging and thought-provoking in conversation event with IfG Director Hannah White.
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About INSIDE BRIEFING with Institute for Government
These are tumultuous times in UK politics. Government is under strain, the civil service is under pressure, and ministers are grappling with the fallout of Covid, the impact of Brexit and an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. So where is government working well and what is it doing badly? What can be done to make No10, the Treasury and the rest of government function more effectively? And as a general election draws ever nearer, what are the key political and policy dividing lines – and what do they mean for the way this country is run?
Get behind the scenes in Westminster, Whitehall and beyond on the weekly podcast from Britain’s leading governmental think tank, where we analyse the latest events in politics and explain what they mean. Every week on INSIDE BRIEFING, IfG director Hannah White and the team welcome special guests for a free-ranging conversation on what makes government work – and how to fix it when it doesn’t.
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