Caretaker Conventions in British Government

The Constitution Unit

After Boris Johnson announced his resignation as prime minister, he was widely described as leading a ‘caretaker government’. But this episode has highlighted that the conventions surrounding such governments are far from clear in the UK. What are the UK’s caretaker conventions? When do they apply? Should the existing conventions be clarified, codified, or reformed? If so, what lessons might be learned from experience in other countries? A distinguished panel will discuss these timely questions.

Speakers:

Lord (Gus) O’Donnell is a crossbench peer who served as Cabinet Secretary from 2005 to 2011, and oversaw the drafting of the UK’s Cabinet Manual.

Lord (Gavin) Barwell is a Conservative peer who worked as Theresa May’s Downing Street Chief of Staff from 2017 to 2019, including a similar ‘caretaker’ period following her own resignation as prime minister.

Professor Anne Tiernan is an Adjunct Professor at the Griffith Business School, and the co-author of Caretaker Conventions in Australasia: Minding the Shop for Government.

Chair: Professor Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit

Useful reading:

• Caretaker Conventions in Australasia: Minding the Shop for Government by Jennifer Menzies and Anne Tiernan
• Chief of Staff by Gavin Barwell
• Must a caretaker government be a zombie government? by Robert Hazell
• Cabinet Manual, paras 2.27 to 2.34

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