Gus O'Donnell
The Architect
Structured and legacy-driven; builds the systems and institutions that last.
Gus O'Donnell is a former Cabinet Secretary who played a crucial role in the UK government, particularly during times of significant change. This interview reveals his focus on creating effective governance and his commitment to professionalism and expertise in public service.
“One of the things I notice is that the civil service can get very caught up in agendas which don't have very much to do with the job I think they're supposed to be doing. Let me give you an example. So I noticed that the Syria team in DFID during the war when we were saying this was our biggest national security priori”
“And one of the reasons for that, Guss is interesting because one of the reasons is that he was frustrated. I mean, presumably the three of us don't like Donald Trump. So we sympathize with the people who frustrated him. But the truth is, his whole administration was about him saying, I want troops out of Syria. And the”
“So back Wednesday, one of the core features of economic policy at that time was we were members of the exchange rate mechanism. This meant that our exchange rate had to stay within a band. And that meant that if it was going outside that band, we had to intervene. At one point, we were intervening to the tune of a bill”
The Rest Is Politics: Leading — 83. The Man Who Ran Downing Street
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