Pepys: A Tsar is Born

Mace | Issue 2 | Magazine

From the Archive

Since the first UK tsar was appointed, a veritable explosion has followed – but what exactly are the rules regarding such headline-garnering appointments?

How do you become a Government tsar? Who appoints them? Why are so many married to Conservative MPs? These are some of the questions arising since the government appointed no less than three “external recruits” to help solve various Covid-19 problems. These are Lord Deighton to lead the supply of sourcing PPE, Kate Bingham to head the UK’s vaccine taskforce and former jockey, Baroness “Dido” Harding in charge of the shambolic NHS test and trace programme.

That both Harding and Bingham are married to senior Conservative MPs (Harding to John Penrose and Bingham to Treasury minister Jesse Norman) has resulted in charges of cronyism about the process. Such appointments are designed to bring in expert outsiders to cut through blinkered multi-department bureaucracy and Whitehall groupthink, bringing energy, outside experience, and focus to specific issues.

More than 500 tsars have been appointed since the 1990s, with a House of Commons public administration select committee report saying that there had been an “explosion” of the breed. The report warned that they should not be appointed to loan their celebrity or reputation to endorse policy,  and that accountability was murky and “unclear”. It was also difficult to distinguish them from Spads.

Do they report to parliament, ministers or the civil service? In the US, some czars – as they are known – require Senate approval. This is …

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.