Government departments have to be ready for a new Secretary of State, often at very short notice, the moment they walk through the door. Waiting for them is a diary packed with meetings, detailed briefing papers, a communications plan and an outline policy strategy for the first three months. The real fun starts when the ornate civil service plan collides with the reality of the new Secretary of State and their team of special advisers who will have their own ideas and plans. That constructive friction is a natural part of the process where politicians morph into Cabinet ministers and mould the civil service plans into something that reflects their unique style and priorities.
Governing parties changing leaders used to be rare. Now it’s the norm. Whitehall has practised this unique form of regime change when a Prime Minister launches a new Government and new policies with personnel from the old government. But that doesn’t make it any easier. It takes time to work out which policies will be dumped and what will continue while at the same time presenting a shiny new set of policies that illustrate the new era.
Change and continuity at DESNZ
Now that the appointments have been confirmed, departments have a clearer sense of the change they are dealing with. At DESNZ, Miatta Fahnbulleh has replaced Ed Miliband as Secretary of State, returning to a department she already knows from her previous role as Energy Consumers Minister. Michael Shanks and Katie White remain in the department, providing continuity alongside the change at the top. Fahnbulleh will look to Number 10 to guide her strategic priorities, but her previous experience at DESNZ makes a wholesale departmental reset less likely.
In practical terms the new Andy Burnham cabinet has the advantage of taking over after Parliament has entered recess so every new minister avoids facing MPs and Select Committees until September. That means they have the whole summer to learn the details of their brief and use the time wisely to meet stakeholders and visit businesses and communities across the country relevant to their jobs. No doubt the new PM will want to move fast and make a blizzard of announcements, so departments will be busy turning those into concrete, actionable policies and helping new ministers present them to the media, stakeholders and wider audiences.
How businesses should respond
My advice to clients eager to build a relationship with the new team is, first, to give them a few days to settle in. That period is a whirlwind. Sending congratulatory messages to ministers and special advisers is great but don’t ask them for decisions or meetings at the start, it won’t happen. Although the appointments have now been confirmed, detailed portfolios, diaries and working arrangements may still take time to settle. If you had plans in the diary with the previous ministerial team don’t assume they will be scrapped, stay in touch with your contacts at DESNZ and be ready for things to move at short notice. Likewise think about what iconic visits you could offer up to new ministers and make those actionable over the Summer. It is also worth checking who in your executive team is in the UK for the next six weeks in case invitations come in for roundtables and events with new ministers.
The most important thing to understand is that, despite the continuity provided by Michael Shanks and Katie White at DESNZ, everyone in the chain is adjusting to a new Secretary of State and Number 10 operation. The new special advisers are finding their feet in a new department and working out what Number 10 want while trying to impress them. The officials are trying to work out what their new ministers, special advisers and Number 10 want from them whilst at the same time attempting to appear to be trustworthy and highly competent. Everyone is trying to make a good first impression. The real challenge is that everyone is still learning what success looks like under the new leadership.
