New Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, joked in her first address to civil servants in the atrium of her department that they had been dealing with some “batshit” policies under the Tories, but stressed that she knew officials worked in good faith.
Reform the blob
But such warmth is unlikely to last.
“Changes in government naturally bring a sense of renewed energy, and it’s only normal for civil servants to feel that — but they can’t get carried away,” said Jack Worlidge, a former Conservative special adviser who now works as a researcher for the Institute for Government think tank.
“The further we get into this parliament, the more things will start to go wrong, as they do for all governments. Relationships become strained.”
Another former Tory aide, who worked in Liz Truss’ short-lived administration added: “The civil service has formed some habits — and grown in power — over the last 10 years that mean Labour will find it harder than it should to get things done, regardless of being viewed slightly favorably by civil servants.”
This will prove challenging for Gray, a self-confessed disrupter, who will want to shake up how government functions on the inside.
Pondering in a BBC interview a few years ago why she was overlooked for the top civil service job in Northern Ireland, Gray said: “I suspect people may have thought that I perhaps was too much of a challenger, or a disrupter. I am both. Perhaps I would bring about … too much change. And yes, I wanted to have change.”
Westminster watchers will note echoes of a previous Downing Street chief of staff, Dominic Cummings, who ran the prime minister’s team under Boris Johnson. A vocal critic of the intransigence of the civil service, Cummings has written and spoken extensively on the frustrations of being blocked by officials.
Speaking at a panel event earlier this month, he offered Labour’s promise to radically reform U.K. planning laws as an example.
“The very first thing that will happen when Starmer and Sue Gray sit around the Cabinet table shortly is that a bunch of officials explain to them ‘sorry prime minister, a lot of this isn’t just about political will,’ before explaining how many judicial reviews and planning reviews will hold it up,” he said.
A new Dominic Cummings?
The former Tory aide quoted above, warned that officials may turn to the media to frustrate progress on changes they don’t agree with.
“Top civil servants are always fascinated by the dynamics of a prime minister’s team, and special advisers. Sometimes when they need to, they will play rival silos and groups of politicos off against each other,” they said. “Something we found was civil servants are increasingly willing to brief things to the media as a tactic, to brief against things they don’t agree with, to leak stuff they know will be damaging.”
Labour and Gray will not only have to face opposition from within the machine, but as is often the case for the left, within its own ranks.
Though there were some 650 staff members on Labour’s opposition payroll, with not enough government jobs to go around, Gray has been blamed by several Labour staff members who were not given jobs as special advisors, in Downing Street, or the wider government.
Those that have not been given jobs have complained of little contact with the party about their future, while those that have made the transition to government have complained at their reduced pay from opposition and at being put three-month temporary contracts.
Labour did not comment on the reaction of current and former staff.
Similarly, around a dozen shadow ministers did not make the transition into government, while newcomers have seen rapid promotions, including Gray’s son.
Media reports suggest Gray has also clashed with Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s head of political strategy and key Starmer aide, something the Labour administration denies.
Labour has kept the two separate, with neither reporting to the other, running separate teams to work to their strengths. McSweeney is seen as more political and combative, with a history of taking on political opponents such as the right-wing while at Barking and Dagenham council. Gray is seen as the gatekeeper, through whom all government planning flows.
The backlash against Gray by Labour figures who have either crossed swords with her, or view her as the cause of their ills, is likely to continue the longer she is in power.
For Gray, that could result in a tough ride. As the Whitehall official quoted above said: “She had a lot of protection being a civil servant — but she has none of that now.”
Expect sparks to fly.