Rumours of a cabinet reshuffle are never far away in Westminster. So how should Keir Starmer approach the delicate task of choosing his top team? The prime minister has to strike a balance between ministers’ performance, party management and the government’s policy agenda, while being a minister is a job like no other – there are no regular performance reviews, clear handovers or annual appraisals.

So how can ministers succeed in government and reach the cabinet table? What skills do they need at each rung of the ministerial ladder? How can backbench MPs prepare to become a minister? And how does the prime minister make decisions about who should serve in government?

To explore these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel, including:

Kitty Donaldson, Chief Political Commentator at the i Paper

Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC, former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Rt Hon James Purnell, CEO of Flint Global and former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The event was chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices