Douglas Carswell's Blog

Do small cliques make wise decisions?

Ferdinand Mount’s brilliant book, The New Few, has an excellent chapter on the way in which decision-making has been centralised within Downing Street. Published before the recent so-called “omnishambles”, Mount’s observations might help us avoid similar episodes again.

Under Tony Blair, government policy was increasingly determined not by the full Cabinet, but by a small clique of unelected advisers in Downing Street. Sofa government. In opposition, the Conservatives understood this. However, in Coalition, too many decisions remain in the hands of too few – the “quad”, special advisers, nudge unit gurus, Cabinet Office and Treasury officials. 

Ministers inside the Cabinet are often out of the loop. Those outside the Cabinet expected to stick to a script handed to them from on high. 

MPs in the Commons might have slogged for years to win over swing voters in marginal seats. Too often they are then expected to meekly rubber stamp policy decisions made by those who have never had to face the electorate. 

Does this matter? I think it does.

Mount suggests that oligarchy - rule by a few - tends to produce policy omnishambles. 

It might seem neat and quick and tidy to have only a few decision-makers. But without contrarian views, mistakes can be made. The obvious questions never get asked. Assumptions remain untested. There is no one to point out why VAT on caravans or a 3p hike on fuel duty might not be such a smart move after all.

More and more people now recognise that many of the big banks ought to have had much stronger, independent non-executives overseeing what the CEOs and the senior management were up to. In order to make sure it makes the right choices, government needs stronger non-executive input, too. 

Fortunately there is already a non-executive board in place to oversee decisions made in Downing Street. It is called Parliament, and it is elected by every citizen.

As a Conservative MP, I want to see this government do well. Ensuring more of us are involved in the decision-making process might just mean we make better decisions – and avoid unforced errors. 

Back to all posts