Dan York-Smith, the new key official who will act as a filter on advice to Sir Keir Starmer has two major talents. His deep knowledge of the Budget process and his ability to do a backflip from standing.
The long-time Treasury official, who has also previously worked in No 10, is set to be appointed to the role of Principal Private Secretary, in a sign No 10 is ramping up economic expertise and taking a closer watch over fiscal policy ahead of a difficult Budget in which tax rises are now seen as inevitable.
Starmer had been trying to appoint his own economic adviser, but no suitable candidate has agreed to take on the job, although Downing Street sources insist a name will be announced soon. York-Smith takes over the role from Nin Pandit, who was moved aside this week to focus on delivery.
Her removal was Starmer’s third big personnel change after just over a year in office. No 10’s personnel clashes are well-documented. Having put his faith in long-serving civil servant Baroness Sue Gray to steer his party from opposition to government, Starmer was badly let down when she used her knowledge of the Whitehall machine to block political aides from key meetings. A power struggle ensued, and Gray was forced out.
Ten months on from Gray’s departure there has been a correction; insiders say political staff now dominate decision-making. But this has led to tussles for power and ongoing briefing against civil servants also serving at the highest levels of Government. Meanwhile, political appointees see things rather differently – the changes are evidence Labour is finally getting a proper grip on the levers of power.
“The growth of the politicisation within Downing Street is really off the charts at the moment,” a Whitehall source told The i Paper. “The political staff are involved way more in every aspect of No 10 roles, even down to the hiring and firing of junior members of Civil Service staff.”
Officials have been caught in the crossfire. Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald, the Government’s most senior civil servant, has come under sustained attacks. No 10 sources claim he is “insipid”; guilty of wringing his hands about problems rather than coming up with solutions, and as a Civil Service lifer, too entrenched in the status quo. Sources talk of using “workarounds” to bypass Wormald to drive quicker reform.
But his treatment has angered Civil Service colleagues who say Wormald has no opportunity to hit back.
What has really upset some is Pandit’s treatment. Her demotion on Thursday morning from Principal Private Secretary to a job overseeing delivery drew opprobrium particularly because of an accompanying smear to the BBC that described her as “ineffective”.
Downing Street spent the rest of the day trying to put the briefing genie back in its bottle, telling other outlets they were pushing back against that description. One insider described her demotion as “unfair collateral damage” but others said she had alienated colleagues.
“That briefing terrifies me if I was thinking of going for that job in future, because it’s not like she’s screwed up in some obvious way,” a senior civil servant said. But the mishandling of her departure means Wormald is probably safe in his post.
“It’s going to look a bit ridiculous if you start shedding all your civil servants in quick succession,” the civil servant added. “But if I were Chris, I wouldn’t feel wholly confident.”
When he starts in No 10, York-Smith is going to have his work cut out. “It’s a really hard role,” according to one Downing Street veteran, discussing the job of Permanent Private Secretary. Under former prime minister Boris Johnson, the holder of the role, Martin Reynolds, was “just a very nice man who did what he was told”. But “others in the same post have been deep thinkers like Peter Hill”, who served under former prime minister Theresa May during the Brexit negotiations.
“It really just depends on how much the prime minister wants you involved, because you can be just a glorified secretary involved in their diary or you can be properly in it. You are the most senior civil servant in No 10 and you’re running a team of very high performing, stressed people; so there’s a big pastoral side, and different individuals at different times have invested in that, or just left it, depending on their personality. It’s a pretty thankless task at best of times,” the source added.
As Starmer wraps up his foreign holiday this weekend, Labour MPs are trickling back to London, amid their widespread expectation the premier will carry out a mid-level reshuffle early next week. The rejig is designed in part to reward loyalists, in part to get rid of ministers who were suspected of colluding with rebels on the damaging welfare vote and to rid Government of what one Westminster insider described as “the dross”.
square DOWNING STREET Ruthless Starmer shakes up No 10 team ahead of make-or-break Budget
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But there are worries in some circles that Downing Street, trailing in the polls, needs its cheerleaders willing and able to champion its agenda without being bound by the rigours of ministerial office. “You could end up with some colourless plank rewarded and good people like Chris Curtis kept on the outside to be helpful,” one Labour Party source said.
Curtis, the Milton Keynes MP, is co-chair of the Labour Growth Group, an organisation accused of being set up to promote Starmer’s ideas among sometimes recalcitrant or cynical backbenchers. A Westminster insider describes the collective as “not so much grassroots as Astroturf”.
Other rising Labour MPs who could be rewarded include Helena Dollimore, Lola McEvoy and Callum Anderson.
Whatever changes Starmer makes to his team next week, he is still likely to have a tricky autumn. Dominating the party’s annual conference in Liverpool will be the run-up to the Budget. The Treasury might release the Budget’s date next week because the Office for Budget Responsibility needs at least ten weeks’ notice to provide its forecasts.
York-Smith, who is crossing from the Treasury to No 10 to take up his new post in the coming weeks, has clearly been chosen for his economic nous.
But in dealing with all the personalities and competing political pressures in No 10, he’ll need to be flexible – backflips might come in handy.
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