Cath Haddon
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cathhaddon.bsky.social
Cath Haddon
@cathhaddon.bsky.social
13K followers 850 following 410 posts
Programme Director for IFG Academy @instituteforgov.bsky.social

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cathhaddon.bsky.social
Wes Streeting kicking off our conference

“Our fortunes are in our hands”. Says government needs to take control of turning around the pessimism about government.
January 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Giles, your discovery of Bleak House has been one of my joys this Christmas (I’ve been rewatching the excellent BBC series)

But…. does this mean you’ve yet to discover Little Dorrit and the Circumlocution Office?
January 1, 2026 at 2:46 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
pick-and-mix, sugar tax, overly sweet dairy drinks.... and now lollipops...

Every budget seems to have a different food related theme and this one seems to have found its own contribution

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...
IfG senior fellow Jill Rutter is a former Treasury civil servant. On the BBC podcast The Tax Conundrum she describes how the Treasury would look for positive stories to sweeten the bitter pill of tax rises: "When I was in my very early days at the Treasury, and chancellors were making some quite unpleasant decisions in budgets, we used to spend the last few weeks ahead of the budget in what was called a lollipop hunt. The idea was that the chancellor wanted to leaven the bad news with some lollipops that were tweaks to the tax system or maybe a bit of money for something that you could point to and you would get… [something like] "the association of duck farmers welcome the chancellor’s final recognition that they need this relief". The problem is that after you've brought in that relief, you've got a built-in lobby group that will squeal the moment you decide you need to take it away because either it’s costing more than you thought or it’s not having the effects you wanted."
November 26, 2025 at 10:55 AM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
But despite the onboarding challenges (there were few a smh in room), Rachel reminds us that fast stream is highly rated in private sector as a graduate scheme. Other employers want fast streamers.

Now discussing how to retain fast streamers to G7. Especially given pay and cost of living in london
November 17, 2025 at 6:29 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Liz Lloyd gets THREE jobs as well as a peerage. We were used to joint ministers, and a lot more of them this time, but is this a first? She is a Parly Under-Secretary in DSIT and DBT and a whip.
September 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Reflections from @drhannahwhite.bsky.social on our liveblog:

Reshuffles crafted in haste can sometimes lead to mistakes repented st length.

This is a critical moment for the PM and a test of how they are thinking about ministerial performance.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/st...
September 5, 2025 at 3:16 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Includes our classic ministerial resignations chart

Starmer’s first major reshuffle but been a fair few departures already
September 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
This feels like a very targeted comment
September 5, 2025 at 1:47 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Our event at Reform U.K. starting with @akashpaun.bsky.social talking about the “messy” system of local government currently in the U.K. 14 mayors covering about 50% of U.K. the two or three tiers of loval govt made more confusing by other functions that don’t match to political boundaries.
September 5, 2025 at 10:07 AM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
It’s double event day at IfG.

Now talking special adviser and the challenges Labour spads have faced.

Salma Shah says that it’s an art, and part of that is working around the system. Which is why can be challenging for officials whose system is based around rules and hierarchy.
July 15, 2025 at 12:06 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Photo doesn’t do justice to @stephenkb.bsky.social’s excellent suit.

Discussing one year in to Starmer govt, how is it going and how are missions doing in particular.

Watch live www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/labour...
July 15, 2025 at 9:33 AM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Ah, sorry. Realised my mistake
May 17, 2025 at 8:25 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
133 Cardinals misspelling each others names

“Who told you about the shield Freddie?”

Freddie: “the bad guy bloke from potter”

Claudia blinks slowly in Latin
May 7, 2025 at 8:42 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Further thought from today's announcement and @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social prophetic blog, the abolition of NHSE very much changes the role of Perm Sec DHSC

Process is already underway, but I wonder how they are thinking about role, skills and experience needed. @alexgathomas.bsky.social thoughts?
March 13, 2025 at 4:43 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Good time to reread @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social piece analysing the resignation of NHSE chief executive. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/aman...
March 13, 2025 at 11:27 AM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Looking forward to this panel @ucl.ac.uk next Weds 5-7pm.

5 years since covid, what are the lessons for communicating in a crisis?

Jonathan Van-Tam
@profaliceroberts.bsky.social
@susanmichie.bsky.social
Professor Jack Stilgoe
Dr Philip Ball
and me!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/communicat...
March 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Comms director’s interpretation of giving me power:
January 19, 2024 at 9:15 AM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
My version of how well this will go:
January 19, 2024 at 9:14 AM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Our reshuffle team have wrapped on the liveblog. Some more detailed analysis from @timdurrant.bsky.social and the team to come, but this is where the reshuffle left the ministerial ranks

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/live...
Chart showing remaining, new and departed ministers, 15 November 2023 Chart showing changes in post across all government ministerial roles, 15 November 2023
November 15, 2023 at 1:50 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
We tried to capture what this change meant in organisational terms at the time. This was around the time when the 'Tsars' were coming on board, and meanwhile the COBR machine links to devolveds was downgraded
October 30, 2023 at 2:23 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
October 23, 2023 at 1:24 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
And finally, from me, the overall mood. The horrors of the attacks in Israel were ever present. Elsewhere it was incredibly busy but also noticeably disciplined. The media may have been frustrated but Labour will probably take boring.
With the increased attendance of businesses, lobbyists, foreign diplomats and other external groups who turned up in droves, this was also a busy conference. The poll lead that Labour has built up was discussed, and acknowledged, but 'no complacency' was a line repeated more than once. It was clear that Starmer's team wanted to take nothing for granted and wanted the conference to be seen as boring - rather than exciting for the wrong reasons
October 13, 2023 at 2:18 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
On standards, the Integrity and Ethics Commission does seem to have survived Rayner’s move.
Labour is still committed to the Ethics and Integrity Commission that Rayner described in a speech at the Institute, and indeed the theme of tackling low standards and corruption was common across the conference, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a Covid- 19 corruption commission. Details, however, are thin on the ground - exactly who would sit on either of these commissions, what their legal base will be and how they will work with other existing bits of government remains to be seen. It is clear, though, that despite Rayner's move, Labour still see integrity and ethics as a way to differentiate themselves from the Conservatives, and therefore as a key plank of their pitch to voters
October 13, 2023 at 2:14 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
Brexit got little attention. @jillongovt.bsky.social says that the thrust of the message was that Labour would make it work better
Rachel Reeves said that "Brexit, without a plan" was one example of the mayhem caused by Conservative governments. Keir Starmer also allowed one mention of Brexit into his conference speech - in his litany of Conservative delusion misleading voters, his most substantive point was when he declared: "When they told you - to your face - that Brexit would only bring benefits to your business." In other words, this is not to say that Brexit was wrong but that this Brexit is not working - and that a Labour government could and would make it work better.
October 13, 2023 at 2:12 PM
cathhaddon.bsky.social
On levelling up, Rayner has only been in the job a few weeks.

But one thing that has emerged is Labour’s plan for a Take Back Control bill and plans for local areas to bid for powers
One area where Labour's plans are clearer is English devolution. Paula Barker, the shadow minister for devolution and the English regions, spoke about the Take Back Control Bill - legislation to underpin further devolution at the start of a Labour government - at another of our fringe events. And detail released from the National Policy Forum said that a Labour government would give places a formal right to request powers devolved elsewhere, in line with recommendations from Institute for Government research. Further work is required to set out how a Labour government would deliver further devolution in practice, but it is welcome that progress made by the current government over the past decade or so will be built upon and developed whichever party wins the next election
October 13, 2023 at 2:10 PM