Last week Reform UK scandalised Whitehall. If they take power, they said, they would take a hard look at the top civil servants they inherited, and if necessary swap them out for their own external or internal hires. Although this idea is not entirely new (something like it was floated in Reform’s 2024 manifesto and trailed again last year by Danny Kruger), it has caused predictable outrage. Critics immediately labelled it an ideological purge – a Trump-style attack on traditional civil service political neutrality.

Parts of Whitehall are excellent. Much, however, is bloated, obsessed with process and diversity, and highly unproductive

Parts of Whitehall are excellent. Much, however, is bloated, obsessed with process and diversity, and highly unproductive

These critics have a point – up to a point. In the US it’s a genuine worry for any relatively senior civil servant that his appointment may last only as long as the administration that appointed him. And it’s a worry for the citizen that the apparatchik he deals with may be seriously ideologically biased against him.

Nevertheless, for all the risks there is something going for Reform’s idea. For one thing, behind much of........

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