The job of Downing Street chief of staff, created by Tony Blair in 1997, has more often been done badly than well
It was established as an explicitly political replacement for the role of the prime minister’s principal private secretary, a Civil Service position, and initially filled by Jonathan Powell on BBC Two. In the first of a two-part series, the Beeb’s former political editor examined the story of our public life from the Brexit referendum in 2016 to the general election of 2019, and had leveraged her contact book fully to find a glittering array of talking heads.
They were not an obvious match. Hill was born in Greenock and had worked as a journalist in the Scottish media before becoming a press adviser to the Conservative Party. She was always immaculate and known for determination and a fierce temper. Timothy, from a working-class family in Birmingham, read politics at the University of Sheffield and then developed policy for the Conservative Research Department and others.
Both contributed to the programme with a sense of resignation and a strange blend of bemusement and bitterness. The truth was that they were a joint failure in the chief of staff role. Appointed as gatekeepers and a kind of praetorian guard, they had shielded an already introverted prime minister from her cabinet and party colleagues. Timothy in particular was blamed for the 2017 manifesto, especially its social care policy which was nicknamed the “dementia tax”.
Their style was widely criticised as “dysfunctional”, “toxic”, “rude” and “unacceptable”. They were accused of bullying cabinet ministers. Katie Perrior, who advised Theresa May when she was party chairman, said: “I think that there was not enough respect shown for people that spent 20 years in office, or 20 years getting to the top seat in Government.”
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