Inside No.10: Lessons from the last decade

Panellists:

• Lord Booth-Smith, former Downing Street Chief of Staff
• Lee Cain, former Downing Street Director of Communications
• Baroness Fall, former Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff
• Katie Perrior, former Downing Street Director of Communications

The highly centralised nature of the British State is set against the relative weakness of the centre of government. This is epitomised by a No.10 machine, consisting of a well-intentioned but small team, limited by the physical constraints of a townhouse built for a fundamentally different age and set of functions.

The epicentre of our decision-making, in other words, remains unmodernised pulled into the minutiae of vast areas of policy with limited real-time information to act on and often lacking the capacity to contribute to serious, long-term thinking. Yet an effective No.10 is essential for coordinating activity across government and achieving cross-cutting priorities.

Reform is delighted to welcome Lord Booth-Smith, former Downing Street Chief of Staff, Lee Cain, former Downing Street Director of Communications, Baroness Fall, former Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff, Katie Perrior, former Downing Street Director of Communications, to explore the realities of working in No.10 and what a future model should look like.