May 2012 - September 2014
Special Advisers - who they are what they do and why they matter
Special advisers ('spads') are popularly seen as malign figures- 'people who live in the dark'. The focus remains on well-publicised controversies, on a single role ('spin') and on a tiny number of special advisers (eg. Alastair Campbell or Andy Coulson). But in fact we know very little about special advisers: who they are and what they do has not been documented. Since 1997 there have been over 70 special advisers working in government in any one year.
So this project asks: who are special advisers; how are they appointed; what do they do; and how can their role and effectiveness be improved? It is very difficult to talk about the role of special advisers in government and the impact they have without having an evidence base from which to work. We aim to remedy this through the construction of a database and semi-structured interviews with special advisers, their ministers and civil servants.
We hope to move the policy debate on from a largely negative attitude to accepting the presence of special advisers in government and to discussing how to improve their effectiveness. Special advisers exist for a reason: Ministers need them. Ministers may feel overwhelmed by the civil service and the information overload. That is why, in spite of calls for a cap, the number of special advisers has continued to rise. And so we wish to examine how special advisers could become a more effective resource in supporting ministers and ensuring the democratic responsiveness to the British public.
We recognise, however, there is a dual critique: many spads are ineffective; but some are seen as too powerful and yet unaccountable. Where we find that special advisers exercise more power than appropriate, we need to ask how this might be remedied.
Our primary research questions are:
- Why do ministers appoint special advisers?
- Who are the special advisers, and what are their characteristics? (age, skills and experience) How are they recruited? What are their subsequent careers?
- What are the roles and functions of special advisers?
- What has been their impact on the workings of government? How can their role and effectiveness be improved?
This project is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. We will begin this project in May 2012 and propose to complete it by July 2013. The project team consists of Robert Hazell, Ben Yong, Peter Waller, David Laughrin, Brian Walker, Hilary Jackson and a research assistant, Max Goplerud.
If you are interested in any aspect of this project, please contact either Professor Robert Hazell or Dr Ben Yong.
2013: We have now extended our research so that we will now look at special advisers under three different government 'eras': the Conservative governments of 1979-97; the Labour governments of 1997-2010; and the current Coalition Government (2010-15).
- Outputs
5 January 2015
The latest product of our Special Advisers project is a package of online resource materials for Special Adviser. During our research on Special Advisers, one heartfelt plea was for better induction and training materials. This cache of resource material aims to help meet that demand.
19 September 2014This searchable database contains a list of all special advisers working in Whitehall between 1979 and 2013. The data comes from Hansard, Cabinet Office data releases, and key periodicals. It is searchable by special adviser, minister, department, date and premier.
8 August 2014
Book: 'Special Advisers: Who they are, what they do and why they matter'.
February 2014
The Constitution Unit produced a Handbook, Being a Special Adviser, which is an invaluable guide for Special Advisers on how to operate.
17 December 2013
Max Goplerud's article 'The First Time is (Mostly) the Charm: Special Advisers as Parliamentary Candidates and Members of Parliament'.31 May 2013
Daniella Lock 'Research Note: Special Advisers and Public Allegations of Misconduct 1997- 2013'.
30 January 2013
Matthew Honeyman 'Research Note: Former Special Advisers in Cabinet, 1979-2013'.
29 May 2012
Robert Hazell, Ben Yong, Peter Waller and Brian Walker 'Constitution Unit submission to the Public Administration Select Committee inquiry on special advisers'.
- Resources
Special Adviser Online Resources
This searchable database contains a list of all special advisers working in Whitehall between 1979 and 2013. The data comes from Hansard, Cabinet Office data releases, and key periodicals. It is searchable by special adviser, minister, department, date and premier.
The latest product of our Special Advisers project is a package of online resource materials for Special Adviser. During our research on Special Advisers, one heartfelt plea was for better induction and training materials. This cache of resource material aims to help meet that demand.Constitution Unit Handbook: Being a Special Adviser
The Constitution Unit has produced a Handbook, Being a Special Adviser, which is an invaluable guide for Special Advisers on how to operate.Institute for Government report: InsideOut: In Defence of Special Advisers
This report by Nick Hillman attempts to explain the job of a departmental special adviserCabinet Office webpage
The official site of the Cabinet Office. Lists of spads are published here.House of Commons Public Administration Committee: Special Advisers in the Thick of It
The report of the most recent inquiry into the work of special advisers.Wikipedia entry
Covers the role of spads in the British political system.Institute for Government
Link to the IfG's research into the role of special advisers.Blogs and online articles on or by special advisors
Duncan Brack
'Being a special adviser under the coalition' Total Politics (8 May 2012)Mark Davies
'Farewell to my life as Jack Straw's special adviser' Guardian (18 May 2010)Nicholas Jones
'The rise and fall of the spin doctor' Personal blog (23 April 2009)Hywel Williams
Spads-u-like? Why British politics needs its special advisers' Guardian (20 September 2011)- Book Launch
- News
- VIDEO: Special Advisers: Who they are, what they do and why they matter
- PRESS RELEASE: Special Advisers: Who they are, what they do and why they matter by Ben Yong and Robert Hazell
- Pre-order a copy of the new book 'Special Advisers: Who they are, what they do and why they matter' by Robert Hazell and Ben Yong (August 2014)
- Press release: Special Advisers need better support and supervision, says new study from Constitution Unit (June 2014)
- In the Thick of It: What do Special Advisers do - and does it make government better or worse? (Nov 2011)
- Press release: Project launch: the role of special advisors (May 2011)
- Interim report leads to Nick Clegg appointing new Spads (Oct 2011)
- Are Westminster & Whitehall coping with the Coalition? Michael White in the Guardian (Jun 2011)
- BBC Politics Show highlights Unit research on coalition government(May 2011)
- SPADs on the Blog