Lying in wait
Who will be the permanent secretaries meeting the new ministers in 2015?
As Whitehall briefly enjoys the quiet centre of the election storm, Jill Rutter and Dan Devine take a look at the people who will be waiting for the call from Downing Street to tell them their new boss is on the way.
Only one permanent secretary was in their post at the time of the 2010 General Election.
- On average, permanent secretaries greeting new ministers in 2015 will have been in post slightly longer – for 1289 days, compared to 1252 in 2010
- However, if we take out the long-serving Macpherson (HMT), the average becomes 1146 days in 2015, shorter than the 1221 days in 2010
- The median of all permanent secretaries in 2015 is also shorter – 1137 days in post – compared to 1378 in 2010.
Most ministers, then, will find permanent secretaries who have clocked up at least a couple of year in post. Indeed there has been a period of considerable stability since the earlier musical chairs in the first two years of this Parliament. More female (just), but all white – and time in the Treasury still a good career move
- Topic
- Civil service Ministers
- Keywords
- Civil servants General election
- Position
- Permanent secretary
- Administration
- Cameron government
- Publisher
- Institute for Government