by Charles Donald | May 13, 2026 | Articles, Economy and Industry, Featured article, Leadership and Reflections, Seventh Edition
Charles Donald reflects on the first ten years of the Government’s in-house corporate finance boutique For a former investment banker still relatively unfamiliar with the wider policy dynamics of Whitehall, it was a baptism of fire. Five days into my new job as CEO of... 
by Menna Rawlings | Apr 1, 2026 | Articles, Featured article, International Perspectives, Leadership and Reflections, Seventh Edition
Menna Rawlings reflects on three and a half decades as a diplomat – and on peaks women have yet to scale When I was eighteen, I completed the Tour du Mont Blanc with a group of school‑friends. It was one of my first trips outside the UK, and I was bowled over by the... 
by Peter McDonald | Jan 14, 2026 | Articles, Delivery, Interviews, Leadership and Reflections, Sixth Edition
John Manzoni, business executive-turned Civil Service CEO, talks to Peter McDonald about his time in government and change from the inside In 2014, the Civil Service appointed its first Chief Executive, John Manzoni, a joint billing with the then Cabinet Secretary,... 
by Barbara Woodward | Jan 6, 2026 | Articles, International Perspectives, Leadership and Reflections, Sixth Edition
Barbara Woodward explains why the UN remains vital to the UK’s foreign policy On 10th January 1946, 51 nations gathered in London’s Methodist Hall for the first meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. With the bombed-out buildings of post-war London... 
by Amanda Spielman | Oct 6, 2025 | Articles, Fifth Edition, Leadership and Reflections, Policy Insights
Amanda Spielman, former Chief Inspector of Schools, describes how she approached the challenge at Ofsted “What does impartiality mean and how should it look in practice?” These questions constantly preoccupied me during my seven years as Chief Inspector of Schools,... 
by Peter McDonald | Jun 2, 2025 | Articles, Fourth Edition, Interviews, Leadership and Reflections, The Top Articles of 2025
In this edited summary of an extensive discussion in Spring 2025, Peter McDonald talks to one of Whitehall’s most senior civil servants of the last 15 years about the lessons she took from being at the centre of government, and having a ringside seat during Brexit and...
