At Power's Elbow: Aides to the Prime Minister from Robert Walpole to David Cameron

Discreet, inconspicuous, prudent...The perfect prime-ministerial aide is always in the background, a low-profile figure unknown outside the Westminster bubble. Unfortunately, reality often falls short of the ideal; for as long as the office of Prime Minister has existed, its occupants have been supported by a range of colourful individuals who have garnered public interest, controversy and criticism. At Power's Elbow tells their story for the first time, uncovering the truth behind three centuries' worth of prime ministers and their aides. Its subjects range from the early media-managers and election-fixers of Sir Robert Walpole, to the teams supporting the wartime premierships of David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, to the semi-official 'Department of the Prime Minister' established under Tony Blair. Along the way, Andrew Blick and George Jones demonstrate how these essential advisers can be a source of both solace and strife to their chiefs, solving and causing problems in almost equal measure. Above all, they reveal how a Prime Minister's approach to his staff can define his premiership, for better or for worse.

About the Author :
Andrew Blick is Lecturer in Politics and Contemporary History at the Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies, King's College London. He worked as an assistant in the Prime Minister's Office and has written extensively about British politics. His previous publications include an analysis of the UK Cabinet Manual and a collaboration with George Jones on the history of the office of Prime Minister. George Jones has been Emeritus Professor of Government at LSE since 2003 and was Professor of Government between 1976 and 2003. He has authored, co-authored and edited a number of works on British government including a biography of Herbert Morrison, an analysis of prime-ministerial systems in western Europe and a study of private secretaries.

Review :
"There are no more effective shiners of flashlights to hidden back rooms than Blick and Jones and there is no more important back room than the Prime Minister's in 10 Downing Street. From Walpole to Cameron the authors anatomise in meticulous detail the development of what might well now be described as a Prime Minister's department that dare not speak its name." Lord Hennessy, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London. "It is a major work, impressive in its scope and the depth of its analysis and understanding. Nothing will replace it." Lord Donoughue, senior policy adviser to Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. " [T]his book is an extraordinarily well-researched and at times very readable chronicle of the people who have stood at the elbow of prime ministers since Walpole. Blick and Jones have knocked up an impressive list of interviewees, too, and it shows in the formidable breadth of this work... [F]or a political aficionado it more than merits an evening read by the fire." Bobby Friedman, The Spectator "As the authors of this excellent book demonstrate, from what we know of our first real prime minister...all PMs have had an array of advisers." Total Politics "[E]nlightening and impressive in its breadth and scope... The story of prime ministerial aides raise lots of questions, some of which Blick and Jones consciously seek to explore, some which are left hanging...The book greatly benefits from the considerable period over which the authors have been studying this topic...As such, the book provides a good overview of many of the most interesting or most prominent aides...any aspiring prime ministerial aide could do worse than read this book." Catherine Haddon, LSE Review of Books