The great fictional mandarin Sir Humphrey Appleby must surely rank as one of Britain’s more successful exports ever. His Machiavellian methods of dealing with government ministers have been followed the world over. Local versions of the Yes Minister TV series in which he starred as a behind-the-scenes puppet master to a hapless politician have been created in countries as diverse as India, Turkey and the Netherlands – where he is played by a woman and his sidekick by a Moroccan called Mohammed.
Much of Yes Minister was based firmly on real-life events in London’s Whitehall, the centre of British government, yet they were written over 30 years ago. Does Whitehall today still have something of the influence, the ethics and the culture that Sir Humphrey exemplified? Can the civil service in the UK or abroad still attract some of the brightest and best, as it has in the past?
In a few weeks Sir Gus O’Donnell, Sir Humphrey’s real-life counterpart, will be stepping down as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service. At the same time I am leaving the Financial Times after four years of Whitehall-watching, so this is a good time to take stock.