A successful minister must foster a culture where civil servants feel secure and empowered to challenge their opinions.

“Tony Blair always wanted people to say what he thought we knew that he would make the decisions in the end but he wanted to be he wanted us to fire up counter opinions at him all the time”

Ministers often struggle to manage their departments effectively due to their own lack of managerial experience and deep-seated insecurities.

“I think we underestimate how insecure all ministers are remember that most ministers are professional politicians they've spent most of their training not managing things they've spent their training sticking leaflets through doors working their way up inside the party system”