The Westminster Tradition

In 1997, Tony Blair’s government inherited a problem: tuberculosis in cattle was rising, farmers were furious, and nobody agreed on whether badgers were responsible. The solution was to commission a gold-standard randomised control trial — 30 sites across the southwest of England, three conditions, run by an independent scientific group. Proper science. No cutting corners. Eleven years and £49 million later, the trial produced findings that made things more complicated, not less. Reactive cu...

Your shiny new promotion turns out to be more than you bargained for. In this scenario-based "Imagine if..." episode, Caroline and Danielle assume the role of a newly promoted manager who steps into a team they didn’t choose and some character-building challenges. ⚠️ Mild trigger warning for the depiction of toxic colleagues - we've all had one! We cover: Walking the floor and gathering intelHow to give the boss response to a credibility challengeClarifying the authorising e...

Demos has released a fascinating paper, The Human Handbrake, on the five human habits that stall public sector reform. In this episode we pick through each of them - fear, heroics, tribes, tidiness, and tempo - and test practical fixes from risk stratification to outcome-focused equity. Topics covered include: fear-driven risk culture and how to stratify risksafe-to-fail spaces vs non-negotiable protectionspolicy hero incentives vs long-term stewardshiprecruitment, merit, and better reference...

Danielle takes us on a romp through change management, starting, as with all good contrarians, with a challenge to the idea of ‘change management’ itself. Some of the ideas covered: Change is happening all the time in government, not just during formal "change management" periodsMost people dislike uncertainty rather than change itselfMission and values-driven staff struggle most with macro changes that shift agency directionMedium-level changes (like new systems) are often underestimat...

What makes someone qualified to be a minister? In this candid conversation with Tom Koutsantonis, South Australia's longest-serving current parliamentarian, Danielle explores the fascinating intersection where political leadership meets public administration. Drawing on his remarkable career spanning multiple portfolios including Treasury, Energy, and Transport, Koutsantonis takes us behind the curtain of ministerial decision-making. He dispels the myth that ministers need specialised experti...

In this episode, we dive into Danielle’s favourite topic - work place flexibility. Public servants working from home has become a visible fault line in Australian politics and media, revealing deeper questions about productivity, surveillance, and trust in our workplaces. The convenience culture debate exposes how work design impacts everything from gender equity to regional development. Danielle, Alison and Caroline unpack the following: That COVID forced rapid technology deployment and show...

Tom Loosemore of Public Digital was instrumental in the capital R Reset of Universal Credit. In this interview, he tells Caroline there were no beanbags, but a lot of multi-D. This interview adds nuance and richness to the picture sketched in our previous Universal Credit episodes. Some of the key insights include: Fundamental problem of the original approach was thinking of Universal Credit as a technology challenge rather than a complex policy, operational, and design challengeThe first pha...