Explainers
Our explainers cover key subjects relating to our work, setting out key facts and figures and answering the most important questions about government.
Explore our explainers
Andrea Leadsom
Andrea Leadsom reflects on working to deliver Brexit in different departments, reforms to the House of Commons and learning about energy on the job.
Ministers’ private offices
Every government minister has a private office. This is a small team of civil servants dedicated to supporting ministerial duties and decisions.
The public appointments process
How the public appointments process is run and who plays a role in it.
Disputes under the Withdrawal Agreement
The UK–EU Withdrawal Agreement is the Brexit deal that formally took the UK out of the EU.
The extension of coronavirus powers and the “Brady amendment”
The Commons will vote on whether the government should be able to keep using the emergency powers it was given in the Coronavirus Act 2020.
Trade in the UK internal market
Leaving the EU creates the possibility for more trade barriers to emerge within the UK.
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office forms part of the centre of government, alongside 10 Downing Street and the Treasury. But what does it do?
State aid rules after Brexit
The UK will be bound by the EU’s state aid rules until the end of the Brexit transition period.
Ministerial accountability
Ministerial accountability is a constitutional convention that ministers are accountable to Parliament for the actions of government.
UK Internal Market Bill: key amendments
The government introduced the UK Internal Market Bill to the House of Commons on 9 September.