The Art of Delivery unearths the lost narrative of how the Blair government transformed Britain’s public services. On winning the 2001 general election, Blair told the British people he had received ‘a mandate for reform … an instruction to deliver’.

To turn rhetoric into action, he asked Michael Barber to form the first ever Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit. Though the Blair government had a huge mandate, there remained fundamental challenges to success – namely the Blair–Brown rivalry, which manifested itself in a proxy war over the direction of public service reform. Nevertheless, over four years Barber’s Delivery Unit directed the implementation of New Labour’s transformative public service reform agenda and achieved major improvements to the NHS and the education system after decades of underinvestment and deteriorating services.

Michelle Clement’s The Art of Delivery is based on brand-new research and analysis, using 600,000 words of Sir Michael Barber’s unpublished, handwritten private diaries as well as interviews with central protagonists.

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Reviews

“This is a special book. Not only does Michelle Clement possess a rare gift for making the entrails of government fascinating, she has another precious talent: for persuading key players to tell her everything and to hand over their documents. As long as there are people interested in the Blair years, this book will keep both its inherent vitality and its importance for future governments striving to reform Whitehall.”

Peter Hennessy

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