Former PM Adviser Says Ministers Have Lost Capacity to Deliver Promises

An ex-adviser to the prime minister has warned that politicians have ceded too much power to external bodies and interest groups, leaving government unable to enact policy and fulfil electoral pledges.

Paul Ovenden, who resigned as director of political strategy last September after offensive messages he sent in 2017 came to light, set out his critique in a column for The Times and in interviews with the BBC and Radio 4's Today programme. He said the British state had become "bigger and bigger while simultaneously and systematically emasculating itself."

Ovenden argued that ministers and officials have transferred decision-making authority to arm's-length bodies, campaigners, lawyers and regulators. The result, he said, is that the machinery of government is frequently prevented from acting by legal challenges, regulatory constraints and well-networked organisations able to stall policy delivery.

He pointed to a high-profile consular case involving the British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah as an example of how such issues can absorb Whitehall's time and attention. Mr Abd El Fattah spent more than a decade in an Egyptian jail after being convicted of "spreading fake news" about torture in the country. He was released in September following lobbying by successive British governments and arrived in the UK last week.

Mr Abd El Fattah's return initially drew praise from the prime minister, who said he was "delighted" and that the case had been "a top priority for my government." The reception became controversial after social media posts emerged in which Mr Abd El Fattah called for the killing of Zionists and police officers. Sir Keir said he had been unaware of the "absolutely abhorrent" posts, which Mr Abd El Fattah has since apologised for, and the government is reviewing the "information failures in this case."

Reflecting on how the case was handled inside government, Ovenden said it became a recurring topic that repeatedly diverted meetings and attention away from ministers' stated priorities. "We'd be having long meetings on the priorities of the government and they would be railroaded by any other business into discussions about this gentleman," he told Today. "Most of us on the political side of government weren't that aware of it, weren't that tuned into it because it didn't impact us on a day-to-day basis."

He added that the matter "became sort of totemic of the distraction of issues that it felt like a different part of government were fascinated by." Ovenden said this type of distraction is enabled because politicians have "effectively handed away power."

"What they're really trying to do is hand away risk but they've handed away power to arm's length bodies, to quangos, to activists, to lawyers, to regulatory framework, to well-networked organisations... who are able to basically stop the machinery of government doing things," he said.

Ovenden listed subjects he regarded as symptomatic of the problem, including debates over paying colonial reparations and proposals such as banning vaping in pub gardens. He characterised such issues as distractions from core government business and said they help explain public frustration with politicians' ability to get things done.

To reverse the trend, Ovenden proposed that the government should start by reducing some legal obligations that create obstacles to action. He specifically mentioned environmental obligations connected to building projects and the right to pursue legal challenges through judicial review. Those changes, he argued, could allow ministers to act more quickly and decisively.

His comments echoed observations made by the prime minister in recent months. Before Christmas, when asked by the parliamentary Liaison Committee about the most difficult aspects of holding office, Sir Keir said the government struggled with "speed and ability to get things done in Parliament." He cited the proliferation of "checks and balances and consultations and regulations and arm's length bodies," and said successive administrations had often responded to past failures by creating more procedures intended to prevent future errors.

"My experience as prime minister is of frustration that every time I go to pull a lever, there are a whole bunch of regulations, consultations and arm's length bodies that mean the action from pulling the lever to delivery is longer than I think it ought to be, which is among the reasons I want to cut down on regulation generally and within government," Sir Keir said.

Ovenden told Radio 4 that with a "stiffening resolve" politicians could "take back control" of the levers of democracy, and he expressed confidence in the prime minister's ability to pursue such changes. "He does feel those frustrations very acutely," Ovenden said, adding that Sir Keir was "exactly the right person" to make changes.

The debate highlights a central tension in modern governance: how to balance safeguards, legal accountability and independent oversight with the need for timely policy delivery. Ovenden's public intervention endorses a shift toward simplifying legal and regulatory constraints to restore ministerial capacity — a position that aligns with remarks the prime minister has already signalled in recent parliamentary scrutiny.

• Former senior adviser Paul Ovenden says ministers have ceded power to external bodies and groups.
• He used the high-profile case of Alaa Abd El Fattah to illustrate how such matters can dominate Whitehall's agenda.
• Ovenden recommends scaling back certain legal constraints, including environmental obligations on building and judicial review rights, to speed government action.