i will end up rambling on, the let me give you the headline view. the first thing is to have a chief of staff in number ten who does the organisational, structural role. if you think about how precious every minute is of the prime minister s time, and we accept it is finite, how you organise that time authoritatively. ten times as many people want to see the prime minister or one that part of his or her time than is physically possible, and that is really important role. want that part of his or her under borisjohnson, i thought he was in there as a sort of eminence agrees, a wise pair of hands. in terms of dominic cummings, thatis hands. in terms of dominic cummings, that is not why he was there, whatever the title. eminence grise. he was there to drive forward delivery, and was certainly well disposed and well suited to this, trying amidst the daily hustle and bustle of events brought up by the media, whatever was the issue of the day, take a hard step back and try to
in fact the longest serving conservative defence secretary ever, ben wallace, who stepped down from his job in the summer citing the cost of what he said was putting work and country ahead of my family. a member of the government in some form ever since the conservatives came to power in 2010, he can now reflect on what he s learned about politics and about defence as he prepares for a life outside westminster. ben wallace, welcome to political thinking. thank you. we are speaking a few hours after the chancellor unveiled what he called his largest ever tax cut for workers. if you were running at the next election, would you be preparing for a spring election? no. i would probably be waiting for september. i think it is a good autumn statement. jeremy has gone on the right place around national insurance, effectively rewarding effort, work and trying people who we need to generate wealth and pay tax receipts so we can have more to spend and grow the economy. i think he has do
was rushed through to allow it. she never hid her ambition, though, for the topjob. asked if she would run for leader here before her boss had actually resigned. i ll be straight with you, robert, yes, iwill. in the resulting contest, she came sixth, but suspicions swirled that her punchy style was, in part, but setting the ground for another run. it s the guardian reading, tofu eating, wokerati, dare i say, anti growth coalition that we have to thank for the disruption that we are seeing on our roads today. for now, suella braverman will return to the backbenches. it seems unlikely, though, that she ll do it quietly. helen catt, bbc news, westminster. helen catt reporting. i have been looking at our live page and our political editor chris mason has been sharing his thoughts on this morning in westminster. he says as moments go in politics as corr blimey moments go. he says it is not unprecedented for the foreign secretary to be someone in the house of lords. but the retu
prime minister. there are rules and boundaries set to those roles by the code and their employment. but they are very much code and their employment. but they are very much not code and their employment. but they are very much not civil code and their employment. but they are very much not civil servants, - are very much not civil servants, therefore they are answerable only to the minister who appoints them, governed by or constrained by their special advisers code to which they are subject? special advisers code to which they are subject? are sub ect? correct. formally, the prime are subject? correct. formally, the prime minister are subject? correct. formally, the prime minister appoints are subject? correct. formally, the prime minister appoints all - are subject? correct. formally, the prime minister appoints all special| prime minister appoints all special advisers, even those who are attached to ministers and often move with them. so their personal affiliatio