Leon Emirali was a senior aide to Steve Barclay between 2019-2020. He is currently a Senior Political Counsellor at PLMR.
During the 2019 general election campaign, I had the then Brexit Secretary next to me in my passenger seat as we drove up to campaign in Bolsover, a key constituency in Boris Johnson’s quest to secure a mandate for governing on the commitment to ‘get Brexit done’.
It wasn’t a short drive: about two hours from Steve Barclay’s North East Cambridgeshire constituency.
During the journey up the A17, we heard on the radio that Jose Mourinho had been appointed as the manager of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club – incidentally, the club I support. Although he prefers rugby to football, Barclay commented how Mourinho often needed to spend big on transfers to succeed on the pitch.
Inevitably, the conversation turned political, and we discussed the NHS. We both remarked that historically, the political orthodoxy was to take a ‘Mourinho approach’ to healthcare, by spending big with no real strategy or direction.
A fair point? The majority of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s £136 billion budget is spent directly on the NHS. Despite this, ‘health’ is consistently cited as one of the most important issues facing voters.
Though by this time he was serving in the upper echelons of cabinet, Barclay would often refer to his period as the Minister of State for Health, a role he served for nearly 11 months under Theresa May. Aside stints in junior roles at the Treasury, this was his first real taste of government. Privately, he’d remark how this role led him to understand how the NHS needs to improve.
Now, he’s back in his second stint as Health Secretary and will be hoping he has longer than his previous 64 days in the job to implement his vision for the provision of health and social care in this country.
Barclay thinks in business-like terms: money in versus money out; head count versus productivity. There are few politicians who could serve as comfortably in the Cabinet as they would at the helm of a multi-national corporation; he is one of them. Managerial, competent, and in possession of a tight grasp on detail, Barclay is the ideal custodian of an unwieldy department like Health.
He’s a politician who relies on data, not gut feeling. Alongside Education, Health is perhaps one of the most emotional jobs in government. After all, it’s a matter of life or death. Refreshingly, Barclay won’t let emotion taint his decision-making. He’ll demand a depth of data from his mandarins in the department and will want to see robust forecasts and models before making key decisions or spending money.
And he’ll do the latter reluctantly. Whilst Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Barclay built a reputation in Whitehall as a safe pair of hands. Though Johnson and Rishi Sunak, then Chancellor, had an instinct to spend their way through the economic uncertainty of the pandemic, Barclay was uneasy with a blank chequebook approach – especially coupled with lockdowns and economic pauses.
When he was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in September 2021, his arrival at the Cabinet Office was greeted positively by Tory backbenchers who were lockdown-sceptics. Barclay was and is cautious about lockdowns and was no doubt wary about reduced economic activity at a time of heightened government spending.
In other words, he’s a politician who wants to balance the books – and on that front alone, he’s got a sizeable task on his hands at DHSC.
Civil servants in the department can expect a tough task master. Barclay works hard and makes sacrifices. He expects the same from his team. He also demands quantifiable results. His laser-like focus on data leaves little place to hide for civil servants who might want to hide their performance behind fluff and waffle. Barclay will see through it – and say so.
History shows us that health secretaries rarely leave the role more popular than when they started. That won’t bother Barclay. Politically ambitious? Yes. But not at the cost of sensible, stable and strategic governance.
He’s the ideal candidate to take on the role of Health Secretary as we still recover from a crippling pandemic, and cope with the subsequent economic fallout. I wish him the very best in the job and feel reassured that the nation’s health is in safe hands.
Leon Emirali was a senior aide to Steve Barclay between 2019-2020. He is currently a Senior Political Counsellor at PLMR.
During the 2019 general election campaign, I had the then Brexit Secretary next to me in my passenger seat as we drove up to campaign in Bolsover, a key constituency in Boris Johnson’s quest to secure a mandate for governing on the commitment to ‘get Brexit done’.
It wasn’t a short drive: about two hours from Steve Barclay’s North East Cambridgeshire constituency.
During the journey up the A17, we heard on the radio that Jose Mourinho had been appointed as the manager of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club – incidentally, the club I support. Although he prefers rugby to football, Barclay commented how Mourinho often needed to spend big on transfers to succeed on the pitch.
Inevitably, the conversation turned political, and we discussed the NHS. We both remarked that historically, the political orthodoxy was to take a ‘Mourinho approach’ to healthcare, by spending big with no real strategy or direction.
A fair point? The majority of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s £136 billion budget is spent directly on the NHS. Despite this, ‘health’ is consistently cited as one of the most important issues facing voters.
Though by this time he was serving in the upper echelons of cabinet, Barclay would often refer to his period as the Minister of State for Health, a role he served for nearly 11 months under Theresa May. Aside stints in junior roles at the Treasury, this was his first real taste of government. Privately, he’d remark how this role led him to understand how the NHS needs to improve.
Now, he’s back in his second stint as Health Secretary and will be hoping he has longer than his previous 64 days in the job to implement his vision for the provision of health and social care in this country.
Barclay thinks in business-like terms: money in versus money out; head count versus productivity. There are few politicians who could serve as comfortably in the Cabinet as they would at the helm of a multi-national corporation; he is one of them. Managerial, competent, and in possession of a tight grasp on detail, Barclay is the ideal custodian of an unwieldy department like Health.
He’s a politician who relies on data, not gut feeling. Alongside Education, Health is perhaps one of the most emotional jobs in government. After all, it’s a matter of life or death. Refreshingly, Barclay won’t let emotion taint his decision-making. He’ll demand a depth of data from his mandarins in the department and will want to see robust forecasts and models before making key decisions or spending money.
And he’ll do the latter reluctantly. Whilst Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Barclay built a reputation in Whitehall as a safe pair of hands. Though Johnson and Rishi Sunak, then Chancellor, had an instinct to spend their way through the economic uncertainty of the pandemic, Barclay was uneasy with a blank chequebook approach – especially coupled with lockdowns and economic pauses.
When he was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in September 2021, his arrival at the Cabinet Office was greeted positively by Tory backbenchers who were lockdown-sceptics. Barclay was and is cautious about lockdowns and was no doubt wary about reduced economic activity at a time of heightened government spending.
In other words, he’s a politician who wants to balance the books – and on that front alone, he’s got a sizeable task on his hands at DHSC.
Civil servants in the department can expect a tough task master. Barclay works hard and makes sacrifices. He expects the same from his team. He also demands quantifiable results. His laser-like focus on data leaves little place to hide for civil servants who might want to hide their performance behind fluff and waffle. Barclay will see through it – and say so.
History shows us that health secretaries rarely leave the role more popular than when they started. That won’t bother Barclay. Politically ambitious? Yes. But not at the cost of sensible, stable and strategic governance.
He’s the ideal candidate to take on the role of Health Secretary as we still recover from a crippling pandemic, and cope with the subsequent economic fallout. I wish him the very best in the job and feel reassured that the nation’s health is in safe hands.