Crises such as war, terrorist attacks, floods and pandemics place huge tests on government. Vital decisions must be made fast under intense pressure – and the wrong decisions can have grave consequences. The Cabinet Secretary, the UK’s most senior civil servant, plays a vital role in coordinating the machinery of government, advising the Prime Minister and ensuring that the Civil Service delivers.

Dr Catherine Haddon, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, talks to three former Cabinet Secretaries about the demands of the job. What kinds of crises did they face? What pressures – political and personal – did they deal with? How well did officials and politicians cope? What did they get wrong? What needed to change once the crisis was over? And as this Government responds to the Coronavirus crisis, what lessons can it learn?

Our panel is:

Lord Butler, Cabinet Secretary from 1988–98
Lord Wilson, Cabinet Secretary from 1998–2002
Lord O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary from 2005–11

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Leading in an emergency: Cabinet Secretaries and crises