Where next for special advisers?
Peter Cardwell, Salma Shah and John McTernan joined us to explore the role of spads following Dominic Cummings' departure from government.
Watch the event
Listen to the event
Dominic Cummings’s departure from Downing Street gives the government an opportunity to reassess how it uses special advisers. Will this crucial role change now that the prime minister’s chief adviser has left No.10? Should No.10 continue to have direct oversight of SpAds, or should the government return to a system of SpAds reporting directly to their secretary of state? And what else should be done to support – and scrutinise – the work of special advisers?
We were joined by an expert panel to discuss these questions:
- Peter Cardwell, former special adviser to four Conservative cabinet ministers and author of The Secret Life of Special Advisers
- Salma Shah, former special adviser to Sajid Javid (2014-2019)
- John McTernan, former political secretary to Tony Blair
- Tim Durrant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government
The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
- Administration
- Johnson government
- Public figures
- Boris Johnson
- Publisher
- Institute for Government