Where next for special advisers?

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live 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 the 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.

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