Secret Life of Special Advisers
Regular price
€25.99
Shadowy geniuses whispering, Rasputinlike, into the ears of our elected politicians under a cloak of secrecy, or a crucial but undervalued cog in the machinery of government? …Or just a rag-tag band of weirdos and misfits?
Despite the acres of speculation devoted to special advisers in recent years, from Alastair Campbell to Dominic Cummings, their role is much misunderstood. Who are the people Piers Morgan once called ‘these miserable little creatures’ and just how much influence do they have?
Peter Cardwell served as SpAd to four Cabinet ministers, acting as media adviser, political fixer, troubleshooter and occasional wardrobe consultant. In this candid, compelling and frequently hilarious insider account, he takes the reader into the heart of Whitehall to reveal what the job really involves, from dealing with counter-terror emergencies in Cobra to explaining to the Justice Secretary what a dental dam is, to having your inside leg measured in a government office.
Packed with advice on navigating the perks and pitfalls of the job, The Secret Life of Special Advisers will inform and entertain anyone who has ever wondered what these mysterious figures really do all day.
Peter Cardwell served as a special adviser in the UK government for three and a half years. He worked for four Cabinet ministers in four departments: the Northern Ireland Office; the Home Office; the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government; and the Ministry of Justice.
After being educated in Northern Ireland, he went to St Hugh's College, Oxford, before winning a Fulbright scholarship to the Columbia School of Journalism, New York.
He was a broadcast journalist for ten years, working for the BBC in London, Washington DC, New York and Belfast, as well as for Sky News, Channel 5 News and ITV's Good Morning Britain. He is a frequent political commentator for the UK and international broadcast and print media.
In his spare time, he volunteers as chairman of a trust for student journalists, mentors a teenager in the care system and spends time with his rescue cat, Jack. He lives in London and Richhill, County Armagh.