Governing Britain

Number Ten Downing Street and the Cabinet Office are at the apex of power in Britain, yet they are among the most under-researched of all the great institutions of state. With an unprecedented level of access, and interviews from former ministers, senior civil servants and political advisers, Patrick Diamond examines the administrative and political machinery serving the Prime Minister, and considers how it evolved from the early years of New Labour to the election of the Coalition Government in 2010. Drawing on previously unpublished material, Diamond provides a unique analysis which considers the continuing power of the civil service, the tensions between permanent officials and political aides, and the hard grind of achieving change from the centre in Whitehall. By exploring the ideological beliefs underpinning the policy-making process and illuminating the importance of the British Political Tradition in shaping the institutions and practice of statecraft, this book reveals the contemporary realities of government and democracy in practice.