How Cameron is Shaping the Premiership
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David Cameron maintains a close coterie of advisers, some of whom inhabit roles once performed for Tony Blair, but has restored a higher level of order and system to the Number 10 machine than existed previously. He holds more regular, and longer Cabinet meetings, tries to make sure that the different functions within No.10 cohere smoothly, and has one of the best relationships with his senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, than has existed between a Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary for the past twenty years. Those are some of the conclusions of veteran No. 10 watcher Anthony Seldon in a piece for the Independent on Sunday today
Seldon’s piece is a fascinating exploration of Cameron’s first year in office and a must-read for AS-level students. He looks at how Cameron has managed to achieve his aim of bringing order to the perceived anarchy that existed under Gordon Brown, and how the demands of Coalition government have also ensured a powerful Liberal Democrat presence at the heart of government. He also details the differing roles of the key advisers, and unsurprisingly notes the crucial influence being wielded by George Osborne. A Chancellor of the Exchequer will always be of paramount importance in any government, and the Cameron-Osborne relationship is as significant as the Blair-Brown one, with the important difference that there is an absence of rancour and a clear moving together in the current partnership. Osborne does not - yet - aspire to Cameron’s crown in the way that poisoned Brown’s relationship with Blair.
A further interesting aspect of Seldon’s analysis is the relative lack of influence ascribed to Cabinet ministers. Despite putting his Cabinet on a more formal footing, the key influence peddlers remain unelected figures such as Steve Hilton and Ed Llewellyn (Cameron’s chief of staff) alongside civil servants such as O’Donnell and the No. 10 permanent secretary Jeremy Heywood. Aside from Osborne, only Michael Gove, William Hague and Oliver Letwin have heft within the inner circle, and their influence does not match Osborne’s. On the Liberal Democrat side, as well as a powerful Nick Clegg, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander meets regularly with Cameron and Osborne. Seldon also notes the influence wielded by Samantha Cameron.
After a year in office, it is possible to take stock of Cameron’s use of the premiership, as Seldon does, and to start noting comparisons with his two predecessors that should boot any AS answers into the higher award echelons!
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