Reform UK government would replace top civil servants with those ‘more likely to implement party’s priorities’
A Reform UK government would expect to dismiss the top civil servant in every government department and replace them with people seen as more likely to implement the party’s priorities, the Guardian has learned,Senior Reform figures have concluded that the current crop of permanent secretaries, the lead civil servant in each department, are not up to the necessary standard,Some would be replaced by outsiders, and others by existing officials viewed as more suitable,The plan has prompted warnings that a shift towards a less stable and more politicised civil service could result in the loss of significant expertise and of institutional memory, and would make government less effective,Nigel Farage’s party has promised it will enact a radical programme.
One senior member said this would be modelled on the second Trump administration, with a focus on making change via executive orders rather than legislation, where possible.Reform has already said it would look at appointing outside experts to become ministers.It is understood that as well as making some into peers, so they could sit in the House of Lords, others considered for ministerial jobs would be lined up for winnable Commons seats.While the party has received a series of big donations in recent months, including £12m from the crypto investor Christopher Harborne, it is expected that donors would be ruled out for ministerial roles.The influx of money has allowed Reform to expand its teams working on new policies and preparation for government.
This process thus far has had limited input from Farage, with insiders saying the party leader is focusing on May’s elections across England, Scotland and Wales.A number of other countries have senior officials who are politicised and change with governments, notably the US.In the UK, existing rules allow ministers to fast-track outsiders into the civil service as “exceptional appointments” on two-year terms.But unions and experts said Reform’s plans risked hampering the work of ministers rather than improving it.“An ideological purge does not make for good government,” said Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA, the union for senior civil servants.
“You would lose experience and institutional memory, but you would also send a message to the rest of the civil service that they are not trusted.“Every civil servant knows they have to serve the government of the day.It’s absolutely clear – you serve or you go.There is no real evidence that the civil service would get in the way.“How do you expect to bring in the brightest and the best if you then throw them under a bus? This would attract believers, but not necessarily the best people.
And it shouldn’t be about what people believe.It’s about what they can do.“Another problem is that as soon as you have political picks, when you change the minister they will want their own pick as well.In the last 10 years we have had whole football teams of secretaries of state.If you changed the permanent secretary every time, it would be a massive churn, and very disruptive.
”Alex Thomas, from the Institute for Government thinktank, said there was an obvious argument for civil servants to be set a clear direction.He went on: “The question is what is effective.A blanket dismissal of the whole of the top of civil service would be removing an enormous amount of experience, expertise, and knowledge of how to make government do its job.“If the intent is shock and awe, I would be surprised if it works.The history of government reform shows that people who succeed are those who galvanise, find allies and work with the system, rather than going to war with it.
”Reform UK was contacted for comment.
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump being gifted an Olympic medal: ‘Yet another award he didn’t win’
On Thursday night, late-night hosts discussed an odd White House women’s history month event, the fallout of the war on Iran and why Melania Trump is starting to sound an awful lot like her husband.Jimmy Kimmel spent a chunk of his Thursday night monologue on a White House women’s history month fundraiser hosted by Donald Trump. As part of the event, Melania Trump gave an extended introduction to the president.“You know how some couples as they get older start to sound alike?” asked Kimmel. “Well, while introducing her husband, Melania had an awful lot of nice things to say about herself
Seth Meyers on Pete Hegseth: ‘The face of a man war-fighting with his colon’
Late-night hosts dug into the Trump administration’s vague intentions for the war in Iran, the conflict’s oil-price effect and a Maga rally in Kentucky with Jake Paul.On Late Night, Seth Meyers checked in on Donald Trump’s now two-week-old war in Iran. “The president is maybe sort of threatening/teasing that he might put boots on the ground in Iran? But Republicans can’t seem to agree on whether they support that idea, or for how long, or why,” he explained.The confusion comes from the top: Pete Hegseth, the “defense secretary/morning show host/fifth-year senior who just found out that yeah, he’s gonna need to do a sixth year” who made a big deal about turning the defense department into “the department of war” and “refocusing on the core mission: war fighting”.“And before we go any further: was there a problem with the term ‘warfare’?” Meyers wondered
Sydney Biennale 2026: politics is everywhere – but with nuance, beauty and heart
According to its critics, this year’s Biennale of Sydney, under the leadership of Emirati artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi (the first Arab appointed to the role in the festival’s 53-year history) was destined to be a “hate Israel jamboree” at worst; a hotbed of pro-Palestinian politics at best. These fears – which appear to have originated from pro-Palestine statements Al Qasimi and her parents made in the past – are not borne out by the festival itself, which opens this weekend across five key venues, spanning from the inner city out to Penrith and Campbelltown.In an unusual move for the biennale, Al Qasimi wasn’t present at the vernissage – but with or without her, the resulting festival, the event’s 25th, is complex and nuanced. It’s light on spectacle and slogans; not a political chant but rather a polyphony of voices – more than 80 artists from 37 countries – singing their own songs. The theme, “Rememory” – taken from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved – is reflected in works that look to the past to find answers to present dilemmas and envision better futures
Naples museum to allow visually impaired visitors to experience art through touch
The Sansevero Chapel Museum in Naples will allow dozens of visually impaired visitors to take part in a rare tactile experience, letting them touch celebrated works of art including the Veiled Christ, which is widely regarded as one of the most striking masterpieces in the history of sculpture.On 17 March, the museum will host an initiative called La meraviglia a portata di mano – Wonder within reach – organised in partnership with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Naples, offering about 80 blind and partially sighted visitors a chance to encounter the marble masterpieces.Visitors will be guided through the chapel by guides who are also visually impaired in a programme designed to place accessibility at the centre of the museum experience.The protective barrier surrounding the sculptures will be removed, allowing participants, wearing latex gloves, to explore by touch the intricate marble surface of the sculptures including Giuseppe Sanmartino’s Veiled Christ, which depicts Jesus covered by a transparent shroud made from the same block as the statue. The tactile route will also extend to the reliefs at the feet of the sculptures La Pudicizia and Il Disinganno
Jimmy Kimmel on Pentagon splurging on doughnuts: ‘Is this My 600lb Defense Department?’
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Stephen Colbert on US war in Iran: ‘We’re still no closer to learning what the goal is’
Late-night hosts looked into the murky goals, economic impact and disrespect for military protocol of Donald Trump’s war in Iran.“We’re on day 10 of the Iran war,” said Stephen Colbert on Monday evening, “and we’re still no closer to learning what the goal is. Is it regime change? Is it ending a nuclear program? Is it changing the name to Donald Trump’s Iran-a-Lago?”“But we are learning more about the cost,” he noted, as the first week of the war alone is estimated to have cost about $6bn. “Do you know what you could buy with $6bn? Twenty-seven Kristi Noem horsey commercials!” he joked before clips of the very expensive, controversial ad campaign that likely ended Noem’s tenure as secretary of homeland security.Despite the exorbitant cost, Trump said over the weekend that this new surprise war would stop only after Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, to which Iran replied: “That’s a dream that they should take to their grave
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