‘It’s the PM for you.’

Chris Mullin MP offers prospective junior ministers a survival guide to the ‘foothills’ of government

Election Day plus four. Your party has just won a great victory. Having handed out the big jobs the new Prime Minister is taking a well-deserved weekend off. It is now Monday and you are anxiously awaiting The Call.

For the past two years you have been diligently shadowing, let us say, the Europe portfolio as a junior member of the Foreign Affairs team. You know everything there is to know about the Lisbon Treaty and the Common Agricultural Policy, you maybe even speak a couple of European languages. You are raring to go. 

At last, the moment comes. ‘Are you available to take a call from the Prime Minister?’ inquires a detached voice. Then, ‘Please hold.’ Your heart is pounding, you try to tell yourself this is no big deal – you have been on first-name terms with your leader for the last five years.