One of the promises from the last round of ‘new politics’ pledges when the Tories were in opposition was a cut in the number of special advisers in a government, on the grounds that SpAds are evil beasts who cost a lot of money. Like many ‘new politics’ pledges, though, this sounded superbly pious in opposition and turned out to be a real pain in the backside in government. It turns out that SpAds are actually really useful if you want to get things done as a minister, if you want to know what other ministers are trying to do to stop you getting things done, and if you want to have a hope of the public reading about you getting things done in the newspapers.
The number of SpAds has been steadily rising as more members of the government realise this, but today Francis Maude announced plans for Extended Ministerial Offices.
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