Axeman in chief

After a year in government, most ministers look ten years older. Not Francis Maude. He bounds into the anteroom of his ministerial suite to greet me, wearing his customary open-necked shirt with a red check that matches the colour in his cheeks. In a confident voice, he says, ‘I just need to get some things decided and then we’ll be right with you.’ It is more like meeting a businessman at the height of a boom than a politician in the age of austerity.

In Maude’s office overlooking Horse Guards Parade, the businesslike atmosphere becomes even stronger. Phrases like ‘saving money off the overhead’ and ‘drive prices down in procurement’ tumble from his lips. But unlike many of the politicians who use management speak, this one can claim experience of management. Maude, who is 57 and served Lady Thatcher as a minister, was managing director of Morgan Stanley from 1993 to 1997, and sat on the boards of Asda and Salomon Brothers while the Tories were in opposition.