Mad Monks

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Archive on 4: Mad Monks

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James Naughtie probes the chequered history and impact of prime ministers' top advisers.

Top prime ministerial aides have had mixed fortunes in Downing Street over the last sixty years. James Naughtie presents their colourful history and asks what lessons it provides.

Dominic Cummings was the latest in a long line of top advisers to British prime ministers who have themselves become the story and distracted attention from the often critical aims that different premiers have set for them. 

James Naughtie, who has observed for decades the varied so-called "mad monks" who have been closeted in 10 Downing Street with their bosses, presents a history of these often colourful figures and the relationships which they have fostered - and broken. 

From Marcia Williams (later Falkender) to Steve Hilton and from Alan Walters to Bernard Donoughue, he considers why so many emerged from the shadows of power to became well-known - in some cases, even notorious - for what they sought to do in the name of their political masters. 

The programme reveals why these figures were appointed to their roles, what they achieved and what their legacies have been for their bosses, for the political parties and for effective government in Whitehall. 

A critical part of the story is that the appointees have all said as much about the prime ministers they served as they did about themselves. And in the programme James Naughtie assesses what aspects of their characters the "mad monks" revealed about their masters and explores episodes which showed the political - and emotional - strengths and weaknesses of the working relationships that were forged. 

He concludes by offering some sage advice to future prime ministers on how to handle these advisers and determine their role. 

Among those taking part: Robin Butler (former Cabinet Secretary); Bernard Donoughue (former head of the Number Ten Policy Unit); Sir Oliver Letwin (former Conservative Cabinet Office minister) and Stewart Wood (adviser to Gordon Brown). 

Producer Simon Coates

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