The civil service: the team that stays when governments change
Prime Ministers and ministers come and go with elections, but most of the people who work in government departments stay. They are civil servants, permanent government staff who:
- help ministers to shape policies and put them into practice, and also run public services;
- report to ministers;
- are hired for their ability, not their politics, and must stay politically neutral: no party appoints them;
- can join by applying, just as for any other job.
Civil servants are expected to be committed to their work and to follow four core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity (judging on the facts) and impartiality (not taking sides, which includes being politically neutral).
The relationship between ministers and civil servants was famously sent up in the 1980s sitcom Yes Minister, in which a newly appointed minister is always being politely steered in the "right" direction by his experienced senior civil servant. Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister at the time, reportedly called it her favourite programme.
Quiz
Which TWO of these statements are correct?
Civil servants aren't appointed by a party, so they don't change when the government changes. The CBI speaks for business; the human rights example is Liberty.