10 Downing Street - Dods Monitoring

58 | THE HOUSE MAGAZINE | MAy 2012
Heywood is
sometimes wrongly
seen as a defender
of institutions
photo: Paul Heartfield
he worked with a young David
Cameron, then Lamont’s
special adviser, and when
both Lamont and Cameron
left the Treasury after Black
Wednesday, new chancellor
Ken Clarke kept Heywood on;
he was already demonstrating
his remarkable ability to catch
the eye of key ministers.
Aware of his reputation,
the newly-elected Tony
Blair made him his private
secretary, and he played a key
role in managing Number 10’s
tempestuous relationship with
Gordon Brown’s Treasury. So
much so, indeed, that when
Brown became PM he brought
Heywood back from a sojourn
in banking to become his
head of domestic policy and
strategy, based in the Cabinet
Office. A year later, he
moved next door to Number
10 as permanent secretary;
the position gave him still
more leverage in coordinating policy across
Whitehall, and he used it to play a crucial role
in coordinating the government’s response to
the credit crunch.
Some civil servants think Heywood
something of a yes-man, too ready to do his
master’s bidding; but those who’ve worked