This week we talk to Suzanne Heywood about her memoir of her late husband, Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood - the man who helped to run Britain for more than two decades, working with four different prime ministers. From Black Wednesday to Brexit, from the Blair/Brown battles to the surprising successes of the Coalition, Jeremy Heywood had a unique position at the heart of British politics. We discuss what he did, what he learned and what he wished had turned out differently.
Talking Points:
The book starts with the ERM crisis.
Blair had a huge parliamentary majority; this meant he could do many of the things that Jeremy wanted to see done.
During political transitions, all the ‘in-flight’ initiatives pause. Any one of them may or may not land as you previously expected.
At what point do civil servants have to swallow their personal objections and get on with things?
Jeremy’s real genius was in relationships.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
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