Being mindful of how you're going to handle crises because they will come is an important part of being effective and ensuring a little bit of longevity in this difficult life as a Secretary of State.

You've got to be careful not to disempower the people who actually got the job minute by minute, hour

by hour, of resolving the crisis. The Salisbury poisonings were one of those examples of

something which there was no forewarning of that at all. All governments face unexpected crises,

as Keir Starmer discovered within weeks of becoming Prime

Minister. Less than a month after the current government had taken office in July 24, riots

erupted across England and Northern Ireland, and more crises have followed. On the domestic

front, the government has had to respond to the Heathrow substation fire and the North Sea tank

crash, while wars are raging in Europe

and the Middle East. How governments handle these crises has a real impact on how they are viewed

by the electorate. A botched response, real or perceived, can see governments lose trust

more broadly. Sir David Oman, who was director of GCHQ and permanent secretary at the Home

Office, wrote in his book

How to Survive a Crisis that perceptions of the ability of democratic government to lead in crisis

are crucial to its political survival. Ministers know that they need to get things right

when things go wrong. So in this podcast we're going to take a look at the role of ministers

in leading during crises.

We're speaking to people who've been in the front line of government when the unexpected occurs

and everyone turns to them for answers.

We'll explore what to do and what not to do and find out what only ministers can do when the pressure is on.

I'm Tim Durant, program Director at the Institute for Government.

There is a whole host of structures and resources available for ministers and their teams during

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