Undeclared freebies, tax affairs, controversial appointments, and now a possible corporate espionage scandal. There's never a dull minute in Westminster, but right now it is yet again in crisis mode.
What better moment, then, to bring you a new Independent podcast from two people who have spent years in the rooms where the biggest decisions in Whitehall are taken – making sense of the nonsense.
We – Cleo Watson, former deputy chief of staff to Boris Johnson, and Helen MacNamara, deputy cabinet secretary at the same time as Boris Johnson – bring a different perspective from our work in political campaigning and the civil service before then.
In theory, as a special adviser and civil servant, we were supposed to be on different sides of the argument. But for much of the time, we were jointly trying to make government work in the face of much madness. Not all of it was created by Johnson.
We’ve called the show In the Room because that’s what we can speak to. Watching from the outside, the government of the day’s actions can make little sense. How can you botch a reshuffle so badly? How have you tied yourself in an ethical knot over any number of scandals, parliamentary wranglings, or policy announcements? Why do they keep getting it wrong? What was the mistake made weeks ago that is the actual genesis of today’s bad headlines?
We’ve done leadership elections and general elections. Expenses scandals and ill-advised appointments. Brexit from the inside to Out, from prorogation to No Deal planning. We were there in 2018 when Theresa May won her confidence vote and then later lost it in 2019. There, as a new virus swept Britain, two of eight people briefed that the NHS would topple over “in a matter of weeks”. We were part of dozens of hirings and firings – we have seen (and made) power in the heart of government ebb and flow in real time.
So, In the Room draws on our experience of being in those discussions, when mistakes are made in super quick time on zero sleep – mistakes which, we promise, come back to haunt you – and when the right decisions are hammered out and prove to be fruitful for years to come.
It won’t come as news to anybody that running the country is difficult. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done well. We’re hoping that In the Room will help explain what’s going on – and why it is that politicians and advisers repeatedly make it look so hard. Come for the analysis from two people who really do know what they’re talking about. Stay for the tea.
Then, of course, there’s this: as part of the fallout of the Epstein/Mandelson scandal, we have heard claims that one of the reasons for the mess is that there are not enough women in these rooms of power – that a ruinous boys’ club runs Westminster. Baroness Harman last week called for the appointment of a female first secretary of state: literally putting a more powerful woman in the room.
This was particularly acute in the pandemic, when we spoke up about domestic abuse (incidents of which rocketed as people were locked down in their homes), abortion (even as the government flip-flopped over what to do about abortion and contraception provisions), and PPE that actually fit women’s bodies. We don’t love the idea that men left to their own devices can’t make good decisions. But we can speak to – and understand – how different it sometimes was to be the only women in the conversation.
So here we are. Each week for the last six months, we’ve regretted not starting this podcast sooner. But then again, each week there’s something else. Tune in every Friday, starting with this one, to listen to what’s gone wrong this week – and how it could be fixed.
Hear more from Cleo and Helen on the ‘In The Room’ podcast, available every Friday from 20 February on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube
