Bad Government : And How To Make It Better

Trust in government has hit rock bottom. From Partygate

and the chaos of Covid to the Peter Mandelson affair and open fights between

ministers and civil servants, the hidden wiring has been sparking for all to

see. When tragedies like Grenfell or the Post Office scandal occur, governments

are glacially slow and accountability goes missing. As successive Prime Ministers catastrophically

fall, many say Britain is broken.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Bad Government takes

us behind the famous black door of government to reveal why the ship of state

is so hard to steer.

As the first female private secretary in No.10, the

author was the only other woman in the room when Margaret Thatcher resigned.

Having shaped reforms under both Thatcher and Blair before working to tackle

gender inequalities and deepen government's connection with civil society, she

now offers an unprecedented insider's view of how the system evolved, why it is

breaking and how it can be fixed.

Exploring why successive Prime Ministers have failed in

their promises to reset government and rebuild trust, this arresting book draws

on compelling personal insights, weaving together forty years of history with

the crises of today.

This is a vital look at the urgent need for a different

model of government before the electorate loses faith entirely.

Author: Caroline Slocock

United Kingdom, Great Britain, Politics & government

Published on 16 Jun 2026 by Biteback Publishing.