I have owned three copies of Gerald Kaufman MP’s original version of How to be a Minister. I still have two – perhaps the third was flung from a ministerial window when it failed to prevent some disaster or other.
The point is, of course, that no book can ever completely prepare you for ministerial life or explain its unusual features to those trying to work with ministers, but John Hutton and Leigh Lewis do an excellent job in their new version of How to be a Minister.
Part I is a vivid description and a valuable guide to the plethora of factors which help or hinder ministers – from parliament through the media and the European Union to the importance of personal relationships with colleagues.
A compare and contrast with Kaufman’s book shows how times have changed. There is no chapter on working with trade unions, but advice on the public accounts committee, the role of executive agencies, how to respond if your department loses a large chunk of personal data, and the challenges of managing major projects.
The most important message is strongly spelt out – while you are operating within this political and administrative maelstrom, a successful minister carves out the key areas where he or she wants to effect real change, sticks to them and communicates them widely and clearly. John Hutton’s disdain for triangulation and respect for the robust lines taken by his more Blairite colleagues shines through.
While John is an enormously experienced minister, there is real value in him having collaborated with Leigh Lewis on this book. Leigh has a long career in the civil service. The book has much to say about the role of and relationship with civil servants and makes proposals for reform in how government operates, particularly in Part II.
As I have previously argued, Hutton and Lewis believe that ministers should receive more training particularly on skills like project and change management. They take a generally positive view of the role and commitment of the civil service, but make the controversial suggestion that policy advice, as well as delivery, could be opened up to ‘outsourcing’ to ensure more expertise and wider experience. I recently read an account by a senior civil servant of one of his first roles in the Home Office. He was discouraged from taking a trip to look at a police force on the ground on the basis that ‘it may prevent you from being objective about the advice you give’. Government has come a long way, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. However, there is also a careful balance to be made between opening up policy advice to wider influences and deskilling and demotivating existing civil servants.
On the whole, Hutton and Lewis resist the temptation to name names or to use specific examples of good or bad practice. However, they reference Michael Howard’s sacking of Derek Lewis as evidence of the ongoing difficult issue of the scope of ministerial accountability. They propose a new focus on the distinctions between ministerial and managerial accountability while warning that ministers will never escape the requirement to account to parliament and the public when things go really wrong. In doing this, they make some interesting recommendations for the future behaviour of the public accounts committee which they accuse of ‘grandstanding’ and limiting innovation and risk-taking among officials. I look forward to Margaret Hodge’s critique of this section!
Rookie shadow cabinet ministers are pretty busy at the moment. However, if I were you, I would put this on my Christmas list. It could come in useful for next May.
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Jacqui Smith is a former home secretary, writes the Monday Politics column for Progress, and tweets @smithjj62
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How to be a Minister: A 21st century guide
John Hutton and Leigh Lewis
BiteBack Publishing |288pp | £18.99