The Institute for Government welcomed Rt Hon Liz Truss MP to give a keynote speech on the economy.

A year since her government’s Growth Plan – the September 2022 ‘mini-budget’ – including a programme of tax cuts and supply side reforms, the former prime minister set out her vision for how the government could enable the UK to achieve faster economic growth.

Following her speech Liz Truss was in conversation with Dr Hannah White, the Director of the Institute for Government, before taking part in a Q&A with an invited audience.

Keynote speech: Rt Hon Liz Truss MP

‘’F *** ing brilliant. I would describe it as like a bag of political nuts – moreish and fabulously salty’ JOE LYCETT  

 Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors is an entertaining and original romp through the highs and lows of British political history and the unlikely locations that have decided our national fate.

Forget Westminster bust-ups and PMQs, some of the key events that have shaped modern British politics happened not in the cloisters of parliament or Downing Street’s many corridors of power, but in car parks, village halls and seaside resorts where the mundane have played host to the mighty. From Pitt the Younger’s Putney Heath duel to finding Margaret Thatcher a voice coach on a train, Harold Wilson’s ‘Scilly’ season holidays to John Major’s dental appointment clearing his path to No10 – these (and many more) are the places where chance meetings, untimely deaths and snap, sometimes daft, decisions changed the course of politics.

Matt Chorley has spent almost two decades covering Westminster, interviewing prime ministers, mocking ministers and chronicling the serious, and sometimes unintentionally absurd, events which act as unlikely turning points in the direction of a nation. Illustrated by award-winning political cartoonist Morten Morland, Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors combines Matt’s insider-knowledge, smart analysis and detailed research with his background in comedy to create an hilarious history of how politics actually happens.

Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors: 50 Places That Changed British Politics, By Matt Chorley, Read by Matt Chorley

Ministers Reflect interviews show us what governing looks like from the inside. They offer a range of perspectives on what being a minister actually involves on a day-to-day basis, the different aspects of the job, and how ministers develop their approach to the role over time.

To explore ministerial life and what the archive reveals about it, we were joined by Leighton Andrews, Professor of Practice in Public Service Leadership at Cardiff University, and a former Minister for Education and Minister for Public Services in the Welsh government. Leighton not only uses Ministers Reflect interviews in his teaching about government and policy making, but is also drawing on the archive in a forthcoming book about ministerial leadership.

Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government

This event was part of the IfG's Ministers Reflect one-day conference.

Welcome and What is the reality of being a minister?

The Institute’s Ministers Reflect project includes several interviews with former ministers in the devolved governments in the UK, and the model of long-form interviews with former ministers has been exported to a number of countries around the world. Of course, the political and cultural contexts differ, and the ease of access to former ministers varies between these countries. But there are many similarities between the experiences of ministers and the challenges they face in leading officials, passing legislation and getting things done in government.

To discuss how ministers’ roles vary around the UK and around the world, and how Ministers Reflect-style interviews can inform our understanding of government, we were joined by:

Professor Caspar van den Berg, Chair in Global and Local Governance at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and member of the Dutch Senate
Dr Hans Gutbrod, Associate Professor of Public Policy at Ilia State University in Georgia
Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government
Dr Catherine Haddon, Programme Director at the Institute for Government

This event was chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

This event was part of the IfG's Ministers Reflect one-day conference.

Ministers Reflect around the world: how do ministers’ roles in different governments compare?

The Ministers Reflect archive includes interviews with ministers who have served under every prime minister between Margaret Thatcher and Liz Truss. They all faced their own challenges and had to deal with the problems of the era in which they served in government,  but there is much that unites their experience of holding ministerial office. 

So what does it mean to be a minister? What are the most important skills and attitudes for success? How has the role changed over recent years, and between different governments? And what can future ministers learn from their predecessors?  

Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government
Dame Angela Eagle MP, Labour MP for Wallasey and member of the Treasury Select Committee
Marie Le Conte, journalist and author
Ann Francke, Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute

This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government.

This event was part of the IfG's Ministers Reflect one-day conference.

What makes a good minister?

The appointment of David Cameron is a sign of a desperate and dying Tory government, says Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer.

David Cameron's appointment is the sign of a desperate Tory government, says Ross Greer MSP

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham.

Speakers:

Rt Hon John Glen MP, Shadow Paymaster General

The Lord Norton of Louth, Conservative Peer and Professor of Government at the University of Hull

Kartina Tahir Thomson, President of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government

This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government.

This event was in partnership with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Leading from the centre: How can prime ministers better deliver long-term policy objectives?

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham.

Speakers:

Rt Hon Damian Green, former First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government
Joe Twyman, Co-Founder and Director of Deltapoll
Henry Newman, former Special Adviser at No10 and the Cabinet Office

This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government.

How can the Conservative Party learn from its failures to deliver in government?

Reports of dysfunction and unhappiness at the centre of government have led to Sue Gray’s departure as the prime minister’s chief of staff. In an effort to reset his top team, Keir Starmer has replaced Gray with Morgan McSweeney, and has also made a number of other key appointments to his No.10 operation.

So what does this restructuring tell us about how Starmer wants to run his centre of government? What lessons should be taken from the difficulties – and disagreements – at the centre that have hindered Labour’s first 100 days in power? And what else needs to change to ensure No.10, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury deliver for the prime minister?

The IfG’s final report of the Commission on the Centre of Government examined why the centre has failed successive prime ministers – and the early experiences of Keir Starmer’s administration have underlined, yet again, the urgent need to implement the Centre Commission’s seven recommendations for radical reform to create strengthened, united political leadership at the heart of government.

This webinar explored Gray’s exit, assess Starmer’s reset, and discuss the IfG’s recommendations for reform.

Our expert panel included:

Sam Freedman, Author of Failed State and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government
Dr Catherine Haddon, Programme Director at the Institute for Government
Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government

This event was chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

After Sue Gray: How can Keir Starmer reset No.10?

Labour’s first 100 days in power have been marked by reports of conflict, dysfunction and delay at the centre of government. Sue Gray’s short tenure as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff has come to an end, with the prime minister choosing to reset his No.10 team just months after Labour won the general election.

What reforms are needed to radically improve the centre of UK government? What does Morgan McSweeney – Starmer’s new chief of staff – need to do to make No.10 work for the prime minister and deliver for the country? What lessons should Starmer take from the way former PMs ran their centres of government – and from those who tried to reset their No.10?

To answer these questions and more were:

Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer: The Biography and Labour’s Director of Communications (2010–15)
Theo Bertram, Director of the Social Market Foundation and a former Special Adviser in No.10
Henry Newman, former Special Adviser at the Cabinet Office and in No.10 
Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government and Chair of the Commission on the Centre of Government

The panel was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.

How can Keir Starmer ensure the centre of government works for the country?

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