How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't

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The book is at its most illuminating when it focuses on one of the least scrutinised power blocs in the UK: the civil service. Dunt cites the example of Antonia Romeo, the civil servant who carried out Grayling’s ruinous probation reform, which was cancelled in 2018 after offences spiked, costs spiralled and probation providers went bankrupt. Romeo was nevertheless promoted. “No one lost their job, or was penalised, or even rebuked,” Dunt writes, echoing Dominic Cummings’s fundamental criticism of the civil service, that promotion bears no relation to performance. From entering Parliament, MPs are destined to spend a significant proportion of their time on constituency case work, most of which would be better dealt with at a local level or by a national ombudsman office (which doesn’t exist in this country). When free of those matters, they are required to participate in the antiquated and inefficient pantomime that is the Commons, wasting hours of time each month attending sittings, trying to ‘catch the speaker’s eye’ and with no real opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the debate. Dunt’s analysis is refreshingly focused on reality, rather than academic abstraction. When he advocates change, it is because his book has shown how an existing set of incentives is ensuring failure. Read it and you will see just how deep our problems run.

In a series of deeply informed and carefully worked out examples, Ian Dunt takes us through the Westminster labyrinth to reveal an omnishambles. It is not – and he is clear here – because the people involved are corrupt or lazy. It is because the system is not fit for purpose. MPs are impossibly burdened by having to do two jobs simultaneously, first as local representatives and then as national politicians. Most of their constituency work is stuff that should be done by councils, were these not also failing. Cabinet ministers often appear poorly briefed, but they may have up to 20 meetings a day and can’t always start on their red boxes until the rest of us have already gone to bed. The first problems with our political system start before we even get to Westminster, though. The chapter on ‘The Vote’ explains how there really is no public say in choosing a parliamentary candidate and that all the power lies with the party.The most harrowing thing” about Grayling, Dunt writes, “is that he is a completely standard example of the quality of the ministerial class in Britain.” But this book is more than a harangue about why we get the wrong politicians. It explains, chapter by chapter, the classes of people who hold political power in the UK: from the voters (once in a while) to parliament (barely at all), the prime minister (less than you think), cabinet ministers (more than you think), the Treasury (just as much as you think), the civil service and the press.

Here and there Dunt finds reason to be cautiously cheerful. The House of Lords has shown remarkable independence, a real ability to affect the outcome of legislation by managing its own timetable and contributing much-needed expertise (the cross-bench system, he argues, works particularly well). And select committees turn out to offer a model of how things should be done – listening to the evidence and privileging cooperation and compromise over crude partisanship. Dunt continues with his explanation of the causes of weaknesses in the whole Westminster system. He is even-handed and, whilst his politics are progressive, he is not partisan. No part of Westminster escapes his systematic criticism of the role it plays in a dysfunctional system.The main role of ministers appears to be to make a name for themselves and to progress through this board in the hope that they will next land at the foot of a ladder and not a snake. Light in the darkness Recruitment for ‘normal’ jobs typically starts with a public advertisement of the role and a job description. Candidates are carefully shortlisted against required and desired skill sets before being invited to an interview where their skills and experience can be assessed using criteria and competency-based questions. Change will not come from the generosity of those who benefit from the existing state of affairs. It will come from the sustained challenge of those that do not.”

If successful in securing a ‘government job’, i.e. a ministerial role, the MP knows only too well that they have just embarked on a brutal game of snakes and ladders where the success or failure of their political career is unlikely to have any connection with their own talent.It is not about the failure of a particular project. It is systematic and existential,” Dunt writes. “In short,” he says, prefiguring Succession’s Logan Roy, “it is about whether this is a serious country or not.” Any reader of this essential guide will struggle to conclude that we are. Dunt diverges from other books bemoaning the state of our politics: they often call for an elected House of Lords, but he argues it is “one of the best-functioning institutions in Westminster”, rigorously evaluating bills in a way the Commons does not. “There is no need at all to make the Lords democratic.” As a Bylines reader, you may already be active politically, or at least interested in positive change. If you’ve never read a political book, this book would make a great first choice and provides one useful strand of knowledge to help explain what’s wrong with our country. There are no adverts for prospective parliamentary candidates and no job descriptions. Any interviews are unlikely to be objective enough to ensure that the best candidate for the role is selected and are more likely intended to probe for party loyalty. Below are some example insights that will help you decide if the book is for you (or for your apprentice activist if you are in a gifting mood).