Tech bosses line up for Cabinet under new Whitehall plans
Hundreds of business leaders, tech executives and former military figures are set to be trained for senior roles in government under a new initiative aimed at overhauling Whitehall.
The programme, led by the Centre for Government Reform, will target candidates from outside Westminster and prepare them to take on positions such as cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries in a future administration.
The organisation will be chaired by Conservative peers Lord Nash and Lord Agnew of Oulton, both of whom had extensive business careers before entering government.
Chief executive Ameer Kotecha said: “We’re explicitly looking for people, including senior successful business people and household names, that might be willing to come into government”.
The scheme will provide training on areas such as policymaking and the workings of Whitehall, with the intention of enabling candidates to step into senior roles immediately after an election.
Push for private sector expertise in government
The initiative reflects growing calls to bring more specialist expertise into government, particularly from sectors such as tech and business.
Participants are expected to play a role in reshaping the state, including proposals to reduce civil service headcount, streamline departments and shift away from generalist officials towards more specialist roles.
Kotecha, who left the Foreign Office earlier this year after more than a decade, described the current system as “bloated” and said reform would require new types of leadership.
The plans overlap with proposals from Reform UK, which has argued that future governments should draw more heavily on external recruits.
Party leader Nigel Farage has suggested a significant proportion of any future cabinet could come from outside Parliament, with appointments made through the House of Lords rather than the Commons.
Reform’s chairman Zia Yusuf has previously argued that limiting ministers to MPs reduces the pool of available talent, particularly for complex portfolios such as health or technology.
The Centre for Government Reform said it was non-partisan and in discussions with multiple parties, including the Conservatives and Reform, ahead of the next election.
The move comes amid broader debate over the effectiveness of the UK’s governing structures, with critics arguing that the current system struggles to keep pace with fast-moving sectors such as AI and digital infrastructure.