The government has released its annual data on the number of special advisers it employs. Andrew Defty assesses the figures and discusses how the numbers have grown over successive governments

Defty, Andrew

English

LSE Research Online

They’re	making	a	list:	the	inexorable	rise	of	thespecial	political	adviserThe	government	has	released	its	annual	data	on	the	number	of	special	advisers	it	employs.	Andrew	Deftyassesses	the	figures	and	discusses	how	the	numbers	have	grown	over	successive	governments.Theresa	May	with	Number	10	staff.	Picture:	Number	10,	via	a	(CC	BY-NC-ND	2.0)	licenceEvery	year	since	2010,	usually	at	around	this	time	of	year,	the	government	publishes	a	list	of	special	advisers	andtheir	salaries.	The	latest	data	release,	which	took	place	this	week,	on	19	December,	revealed	another	rise	in	thenumber	of	these	highly	paid	political	appointees.Special	advisers	are	temporary	civil	servants	employed	by	government	to	provide	political	advice	to	ministers.	Theirroles	vary	considerably	from	providing	media	advice	to	policy	expertise	but,	unlike	permanent	civil	servants,	specialadvisers	are	not	required	to	be	politically	impartial.	As	political	appointees,	special	advisers	generally	leave	officewhen	a	government	changes	and	new	governments	bring	their	own	advisers,	many	of	whom	will	have	beenemployed	by	the	party	when	in	opposition.The	use	of	political	advisers	by	governments	is	not	a	new	phenomenon,	but	the	number	and	role	of	special	advisershas	expanded	considerably	in	recent	years.	The	most	significant	expansion	followed	the	election	of	the	Labourgovernment	in	1997.	Through	18	years	of	opposition	and	particularly	in	the	run-up	to	the	1997	election,	Labour	haddeveloped	a	large	cadre	of	advisers	and,	in	particular,	media	strategists	whose	services	they	wished	to	retain.Following	the	1997	election,	many	of	these	individuals	found	themselves	working	alongside	ministers	and	civilservants	and	in	certain	circumstances	were	even	given	the	authority	to	issue	instructions	to	civil	servants.There	has	been	some	movement	towards	regularising	the	work	of	special	advisers	in	recent	years.	On	appointmentspecial	advisers	become	employees	of	the	civil	service,	rather	than	the	party.	As	such	they	are	covered	by	the	CivilService	code	and	in	2001	the	Cabinet	Office	produced	a	separate	code	of	conduct	for	special	advisers.	Thisdescribes	special	advisers	as	‘a	critical	part	of	the	team	supporting	ministers’	but	also	suggests	that	theirappointment	may	help	to	protect	the	civil	service	from	accusations	of	politicisation:They	add	a	political	dimension	to	the	advice	and	assistance	available	to	Ministers	while	reinforcing	the	politicalimpartiality	of	the	permanent	Civil	Service	by	distinguishing	the	source	of	political	advice	and	support.	Specialadvisers	should	be	fully	integrated	into	the	functioning	of	government.	They	are	part	of	the	team	working	closelyalongside	civil	servants	to	deliver	Ministers’	priorities.	They	can	help	Ministers	on	matters	where	the	work	ofgovernment	and	the	work	of	the	government	party	overlap	and	where	it	would	be	inappropriate	for	permanent	civilservants	to	become	involved.	They	are	appointed	to	serve	the	Prime	Minister	and	the	Government	as	a	whole,	notjust	their	appointing	Minister.Democratic Audit: They’re making a list: the inexorable rise of the special political adviser Page 1 of 4		Date originally posted: 2018-12-21Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/12/21/theyre-making-a-list-the-inexorable-rise-of-the-special-political-adviser/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/Government	transparency	and	special	advisersIn	opposition	the	Conservative	Party	was	critical	of	Labour’s	use	of	special	advisers.	The	Conservative	Partymanifesto	for	the	2010	general	election	promised	to	reduce	the	cost	of	government	and	to	make	government	moreaccountable	and	transparent.	This	included	an	unequivocal	commitment	to	‘put	a	limit	on	the	number	of	specialadvisers	and	protect	the	impartiality	of	the	civil	service.’	This	commitment	to	reducing	special	adviser	numbers	wasrepeated	in	the	Coalition	Programme	for	Government.The	special	adviser	data	release	is	an	admirable	example	of	openness	in	government.	Previous	governments	hadalso	provided	data	on	the	employment	of	special	advisers,	but	these	had	generally	come	in	response	toparliamentary	questions.	The	first	special	adviser	data	release	in	June	2010	provided	a	model	which	has	beenfollowed	every	year	since.	It	included	the	names	of	all	special	advisers	then	in	post,	their	pay	band	and,	in	the	caseof	the	most	well-paid	special	advisers,	their	actual	salary.The	timing	of	the	data	release	has	not,	however,	been	ideal	in	terms	of	encouraging	scrutiny.	The	date	of	therelease	has	varied	but	there	has	been	a	tendency	to	issue	the	data	on	a	day	when	Parliament	is	going	into	recessor,	in	some	cases,	when	Parliament	is	not	sitting.		Every	year	since	2014,	including	the	current	year,	the	data	hasbeen	released	on	or	just	before	Parliament	rose	for	Christmas.	Issuing	the	data	just	before	a	recess	means	that	therelease	is	often	buried	in	a	flurry	of	other	announcements,	it	may	also	reduce	the	opportunity	for	uncomfortableparliamentary	questions	about	the	Government’s	use	of	special	advisers.The	inexorable	rise	in	the	number	of	special	advisersThe	possibility	of	uncomfortable	parliamentary	questions	is	perhaps	enhanced	by	the	seemingly	inexorable	rise	inthe	numbers	of	special	advisers	and	also	the,	not	inconsiderable,	salaries	attached	to	some	of	these	posts.The	total	number	of	special	advisers	certainly	increased	considerably	under	Labour,	almost	doubling	from	38	in	thefinal	year	of	the	Major	government	to	70	at	the	end	of	Labour’s	first	year	in	power.	The	total	number	of	specialadvisers	under	Labour	peaked	at	84	in	2005.	Following	the	election	of	the	coalition	government	in	2010	there	was	aslight	fall	in	the	number,	but	this	soon	began	to	rise.	Despite	promising	to	reduce	numbers,	by	2013	the	number	ofspecial	advisers	employed	by	the	coalition	government	had	surpassed	Labour’s	peak	and	kept	on	rising.Although	the	numbers	fell	again	following	the	2015	general	election	they	have	once	again	begun	to	rise.	This	year’srelease	reveals	that	99	individuals	are	currently	employed	as	special	advisers,	although	three	of	these	work	part-time.	There	are	currently	more	special	advisers	than	at	any	point	under	Labour	and	almost	as	many	as	during	thehighest	point	of	the	coalition	government.Figure	1:	Special	adviser	numbers	since	1995Democratic Audit: They’re making a list: the inexorable rise of the special political adviser Page 2 of 4		Date originally posted: 2018-12-21Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/12/21/theyre-making-a-list-the-inexorable-rise-of-the-special-political-adviser/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/Although	the	number	of	special	advisers	employed	by	the	coalition	government	can,	in	part,	be	explained	by	theneed	to	provide	advisers	for	both	parties	in	the	coalition,	this	does	not	account	for	all	of	the	additional	numbers.	Bythe	final	year	of	the	coalition	there	were	20	supporting	the	Deputy	Prime	Minister,	Nick	Clegg,	and	the	otherfourteen	Liberal	Democrat	ministers.	However,	the	total	number	had	by	this	point	risen	to	103,	with	83	of	thosesupporting	Conservative	ministers.Other	more	significant	and	long-term	factors	in	the	rise	in	special	adviser	numbers	are	the	increase	in	size	of	thegovernment	and	also	the	concentration	of	advisers	in	Downing	Street.	There	is	no	statutory	limit	on	the	number	ofspecial	advisers,	but	the	Ministerial	Code	allows	for	the	appointment	of	two	special	advisers	to	each	Cabinetminister	and	one	to	any	other	minister	attending	Cabinet.	The	size	of	the	Cabinet	has	grown	under	Theresa	May,there	are	currently	23	full	Cabinet	ministers	and	a	further	six	ministers	attending.	Moreover,	some	ministers	areclearly	exceeding	their	allocation.	There	are	at	present	five	Secretaries	of	State	with	three	special	advisers	while	theHome	Secretary	has	four.	Interestingly,	in	the	last	year,	the	number	in	the	whips’	office	has	doubled	from	two	tofour.	Moreover,	there	are	no	limitations	on	the	number	of	advisers	allocated	to	the	Prime	Minister.	Since	the	late1990s	around	a	third	of	all	special	advisers	have	been	located	in	Number	10,	although	this	has	also	increased	since2010.	Half	of	this	year’s	increase	in	special	adviser	numbers	can	be	attributed	to	advisers	appointed	by	Number	10.Special	advisers	in	contextPerhaps	wary	of	the	potential	for	criticism	the	government	also	now	provides	some	contextual	data	with	the	annualspecial	adviser	data	release.	It	notes	that	while	there	are	99	special	advisers	working	in	government,	there	are	atotal	of	430,075	civil	servants	working	across	the	country.	It	also	notes	that	the	total	cost	of	special	advisers	at£8.1m	per	calendar	year,	is	only	0.05%	of	the	total	civil	service	budget.	This	cost	is	also	compared	to	the	£9.8m	ofstate	funding	which	is	provided	through	Short	Money	to	support	opposition	parties	with	seats	in	the	House	ofCommons,	and	the	£1m	of	Cranbourne	Money	which	supports	opposition	parties	in	the	House	of	Lords.Democratic Audit: They’re making a list: the inexorable rise of the special political adviser Page 3 of 4		Date originally posted: 2018-12-21Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/12/21/theyre-making-a-list-the-inexorable-rise-of-the-special-political-adviser/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/This	is	certainly	interesting	contextual	data	although	it	does	allow	for	a	number	of	other	conclusions.	The	number	ofspecial	advisers	is	indeed	tiny	when	compared	to	the	massed	ranks	of	civil	servants,	but	the	reason	why	parties	ingovernment	have	not	historically	relied	upon	special	advisers,	is	precisely	because	they	have	been	able	to	draw	onthe	considerable	resources	of	the	civil	service.	Similarly,	in	relation	to	the	funding	provided	to	opposition	parties,this	is	designed	to	allow	opposition	parties	to	be	able	to	carry	out	their	parliamentary	business,	in	order	to	provideeffective	scrutiny	of	the	government.	It	is	paid	to	opposition	parties	and	not	the	government,	because	oppositionparties	do	not	have	the	resources	available	to	the	government.	While	the	data	provided	in	the	current	releaseindicates	that	funding	for	opposition	parties	is	slightly	more	than	the	total	budget	for	special	advisers,	oppositionparties	receive	no	other	state	support,	while	governments	are	able	to	draw	on	the	support	both	of	special	advisersand	the	civil	service.Moreover,	it	is	very	difficult	to	avoid	the	fact	that	special	advisers	are	very	highly	paid	individuals,	operating	at	thehigher	levels	of	the	civil	service	in	Whitehall.	While	there	are	considerable	drawbacks	to	being	a	special	adviser,	notleast	job-insecurity,	they	are	considerably	better	paid	than	most	civil	servants	and,	in	many	cases,	than	mostMembers	of	Parliament.	On	the	basis	of	the	figures	provided	in	the	current	release,	the	average	salary	for	a	specialadviser	is	more	than	twice	the	average	salary	for	the	other	430,075	civil	servants,	while	22	special	adviserscurrently	earn	more	than	the	current	basic	salary	for	an	MP	of	£77,379.The	growth	in	numbers,	cost	and	influence	of	special	advisers	has	been	a	source	of	considerable	concern	for	sometime.	Several	inquiries	have	recommended	a	cap	on	special	adviser	numbers	and	opposition	parties	have	oftenbeen	critical	of	their	use.	Yet	in	government	no	party	has	felt	able	to	arrest	the	trend	begun	by	Labour	in	1997.	At	atime	when	the	impartiality	of	the	permanent	civil	service	is	frequently	being	brought	into	question,	some	attentionmight	justifiably	be	focused	on	the	impact	of	this	small,	yet	ever-expanding,	group	of	highly	paid	politicalappointees.This	post	represents	the	views	of	the	author	and	not	those	of	Democratic	Audit.About	the	authorAndrew	Defty	is	a	Reader	in	Politics	in	the	School	of	Social	and	Political	Sciences	at	theUniversity	of	Lincoln.	He	runs	the	Watching	the	Watchers	blog	at	Lincoln	University	and	is	co-author,	with	Hugh	Bochel	and	Jane	Kirkpatrick,	of	Watching	the	Watchers:	Parliament	and	theIntelligence	Services,	published	by	Palgrave.	Similar	PostsAustralian	politics	shows	why	the	de-separation	of	political	and	administrative	careers	matters	for	democracyGoverning	as	a	permanent	form	of	campaigning:	why	the	civil	service	is	in	mortal	dangerJust	how	special	are	special	advisers	within	the	UK	civil	service?May	cuts	Whitehall	spads	but	keeps	her	own	as	she	consolidates	power	in	No	10Reforming	Whitehall:	bluff,	bluster,	brilliance	and	brainsDemocratic Audit: They’re making a list: the inexorable rise of the special political adviser Page 4 of 4		Date originally posted: 2018-12-21Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/12/21/theyre-making-a-list-the-inexorable-rise-of-the-special-political-adviser/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/

They’re making a list: the inexorable rise of the special political adviser

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They’re making a list: the inexorable rise of the special political adviser

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