Northern Ireland, born of strife 100 years ago, again erupts in political violence Editors' Picks Roiled anew by the impact of Brexit, Northern Ireland is seemingly moving in a darker and more dangerous direction.
The Queen’s gambit: New evidence shows how Her Majesty wields influence on legislation Tuesday February 9, 2021 By Anne Twomey Editors' Picks The Queen exercises extensive soft power by influencing government policy and bills before they are introduced to parliament.
Premium Insights and analysis ‘Chaotic’ decision-making behind the UK’s mismanaged response to the pandemic Monday February 1, 2021 By David Donaldson Case studies The UK government has done a terrible job of managing the pandemic. Clearer strategic direction and improved relationships between advisors and ministers could have helped.
Premium Insights and analysis Facing COVID-19: Are the UK and US still ‘world-class’ governments? Tuesday November 10, 2020 By Matthew Elmas Features As hope dawns on a renewed coronavirus response in the United States after the defeat of Donald Trump, special friend the United Kingdom is bracing…
Premium Insights and analysis The UK government said it was ‘following the science’ on COVID-19. Why does it have the worst outbreak in Europe? Wednesday July 8, 2020 By David Donaldson Case studies What went wrong? And where does the fault lie — the science, the science advisers, or the politicians?…
Premium Trends and research Extensive social distancing required: the paper that led to Britain’s U-turn on coronavirus policy Friday March 20, 2020 By David Donaldson Features Mild mitigation measures will not be enough to stop a spike in coronavirus cases overwhelming the health system, argues a paper released by researchers at…
Premium Trends and research Outsourcing: where it has worked, and how to avoid being caught out Thursday February 20, 2020 By David Donaldson Career Advice Some services have benefited from outsourcing, while others have caused harm to vulnerable people. A UK study examines what factors make failure more likely, and…
Clerk's apology sets tone for mending the wounds of UK harassment Tuesday March 13, 2018 By Harley Dennett Career Advice When a British public sector institution found itself at the centre of #MeToo claims, its head acted swiftly to apologise to his staff for leaving the…
Another nail in the coffin for UK PPPs: a sign for Australia's PPP market? Friday February 16, 2018 By The Mandarin Features The UK's audit office is critical of government enthusiasm for public private partnerships when there's not much data to say whether the benefits of PPPs…
Toughest job in a democracy? Keeping politicians on the level Tuesday June 27, 2017 By Stephen Easton Features A purely administrative approach to parliamentary expenses hasn't lifted our pollies' abysmal public trust, but it could be worse. Britain's former top civil servant tasked…
Breaking in a new generation of confident public speakers Tuesday June 27, 2017 By The Mandarin Career Advice CASE STUDY: Government creative writer Lucy Carey discusses a new peer-led initiative being developed at the UK GDS to usher more women towards the…
After an extraordinary campaign, the UK is heading for some very interesting times Wednesday June 14, 2017 By Verona Burgess Features Theresa May's problems are making Turnbull's seem trivial. The centre may not hold for very long, the Tories' manifesto is in tatters, and only the…
Can you trust an exit poll? Friday June 9, 2017 By The Conversation Features As all eyes turn to the drip-feed of UK election results, one result is clear: best prediction. YouGov’s sophisticated multilevel regression and post-stratification method (“Mister…
Combating misinformation with Number 10's Alex Aiken Wednesday May 31, 2017 By Harley Dennett Features No, it's not propaganda, and yes, it is a critical government profession that enhances and saves lives. Britain's top government communicator has a message for…
Building better user personas for a better public service Wednesday September 28, 2016 By The Mandarin Case studies CASE STUDY: Designing a government service can be guided by user personas, but they're only as good as the research behind them. Interviewing 55…
