When Nigel Farage enters No 10, he will not fall into Whitehall's trap
6 min read
Britain’s Civil Service has evaded responsibility for the decline of the state for too long – it is time to restore the primacy of ministerial power, argues Danny Kruger
For decades, incoming British administrations have succumbed to a quiet, insidious delusion: the belief that winning a parliamentary majority translates automatically into the exercise of power. Political parties arrive in Whitehall expecting the ancient machinery of state to passively translate their democratic mandates into reality. Instead, they encounter a system engineered, above all, for its own self-preservation.
The modern Senior Civil Service is not an agile, neutral instrument awaiting an operator; it is a self-perpetuating administrative state, risk-averse, process-driven and structurally insulated from the consequences of failure. The historic compact between the British people and their elected representatives has broken down, replaced by bureaucrats that treat democratic mandates not as binding instructions but as temporary disruptions to be managed and absorbed.
This institutional decay lies at the very root of Britain’s national stagnation. Over generations, authority has systematically drained away from elected ministers and pooled in the dark corners of Whitehall, especially in the network of unaccountable quangos that have appeared in the last two decades. When public services deteriorate, infrastructure projects stall, or control of our border is lost, the civil servant who controlled the advice, managed the budget and operated the bureaucratic levers faces no sanction whatsoever. Meanwhile, the minister – with no practical ability to direct those levers or even choose their own staff – takes the blame.
This is not democratic stewardship; it is a profound abdication of governance that hollows out our civic institutions and breeds legitimate public cynicism toward the entire parliamentary system.
At Reform UK, we will confront this constitutional breakdown head on. As head of our ‘Preparing for Government’ team, I will ensure that when Nigel Farage enters No 10 we do not fall into the administrative trap that has ensnared successive governments.
Reform is building a rigorous operational setup capable of executing systemic change from day one. We recognise that the window of opportunity for an incoming government to effect structural reform is brief, while the economic, social and cultural challenges facing Britain are monumental. When permanent secretaries meet our future ministers and their teams, they will not be expected to nod politely at vague political aspirations while quietly shunting them into administrative oblivion. They will be met with explicit, non-negotiable operational directives for transforming the state, grounded in the absolute principle that civil servants answer to ministers, ministers answer to Parliament, and Parliament answers to the sovereign British people.
The work of my team in the Preparing for Government unit is focused on the painstaking, unglamorous mechanics of institutional restoration. We will overhaul the Civil Service and ministerial code, establishing clear lines of accountability, and restoring the actual, rather than merely formal, responsibility of ministers for policy delivery. We will dismantle the Cabinet Office, the bloated centre where executive decision making goes to die. We will split the conflicted role of cabinet secretary into focused, functional parts: an agile political chief of staff to advise the PM, a chief secretary responsible for Cabinet governance, and a dedicated CEO responsible for the administration of the Civil Service.
Furthermore, we will give ministers the long-overdue power to appoint and dismiss their permanent secretaries and immediate advisory teams, ending the absurdity of a bureaucracy that effectively selects its own overseers. To address the problem of ‘posh generalists’ who float from department to department making policy without domain expertise, we will proactively identify proven talent from the private sector and civil society to enter the Senior Civil Service. We will streamline processes through the ambitious adoption of artificial intelligence, overhaul performance management to reward genuine capability, and eliminate the pervasive DEI industry in favour of a culture dedicated solely to public service.
Concurrently, the vast majority of quangos will be ruthlessly pruned or absorbed back into departments, returning public authority directly to accountable ministers.
Over generations, authority has systematically drained away from elected ministers and pooled in the dark corners of Whitehall
Contrast this comprehensive, constitutional approach with the Labour alternative under Andy Burnham. His recent machinery of government changes represent a textbook case of technocratic tinkering: shuffling organograms and changing executive titles while leaving the central engine of administrative power completely untouched. By scattering economic policy across competing institutional hubs in the Treasury, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and a glossy new ‘No 10 North’, Burnham’s administration has not decentralised power – it has merely multiplied institutional friction and created entirely avoidable structural conflict.
Worse still, the Prime Minister has fallen victim to the Senior Civil Service’s favourite trick: allowing politicians to announce superficial reorganisations while the top mandarins quietly consolidate actual authority. Under Burnham’s watch, Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo has successfully expanded her institutional grip, now commanding the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Cabinet Office, ‘No 10 North’ and the Civil Service simultaneously. To reflect her supremely powerful position, she was promptly given a new office right next to the Prime Minister’s study. But be under no illusions: once Burnham’s star fades, she will move fast against her benefactor to defuse any changes that threaten the primacy of the Civil Service.
While Burnham shuffles the deck within the parameters permitted by Whitehall, Reform UK intends to change the rules of the game entirely. Restoring the British state cannot be achieved through management consultancy buzzwords or superficial departmental reshuffles. It requires a fundamental shift in political philosophy: a return to a Burkean understanding of institutional stewardship where democratic sovereignty is respected, executive power is properly accountable, and the administrative apparatus serves the public interest rather than its own institutional hegemony.
The work we are undertaking every day in the Preparing for Government team is the essential prerequisite for everything else we hope to achieve if we win office. A functional, accountable state machine will ensure that our promises on border security, economic growth and public services can be delivered quickly. In contrast, we can observe in real time how Burnham’s failure to prepare for the realities of power is proving to be his preparation for failure.
We will not make the same mistake. When the British people grant us their mandate, we will be ready to govern, and ready to reform.
Danny Kruger is the Reform UK MP for East Wiltshire
