Introduction

Most people have heard of Niccolo Machiavelli, but do they know what a Mandarin is? For those of you who do not know it is what the British call their senior civil servants. A non-elected group of people, traditionally white, middle aged male and middle class and to be found at the heart of government and in charge of their respective government departments. That stereotype is no longer as true as it was, but unfortunately the Mandarins are not as diverse as could be wished. I would know as I am one of them. So was Machiavelli as he was a senior advisor to the rulers of some of the Italian states during the 15th Century.

Machiavelli stands out from what is traditionally a very anonymous group of people, not just because of some of his controversial writings, but because he was a man who sought to provide a critical analysis of the workings of rulers and governments at the time. I have chosen the alias The Machiavellian Mandarin because like him I want to set out a critique of how government is conducted in Britain. Fortunately, unlike Machiavelli, I do not face the risk of being tortured or executed for my criticisms. However, there are some ground rules for this blog.

Ground Rules

I wish to remain anonymous

I do work for the central civil service, but I am not going to reveal which department I work for

I will not be exposing any secrets or blowing the whistle on anything, as a member of the civil service I gave up that right. Everything I talk about in this blog will be common knowledge or on issues exposed in the UK press

All the opinions and writings contained in this blog are my own and not any official government opinion

All constructive comments, criticisms and feedback are welcome