Dr Thérèse Coffey served in government under every prime minister from David Cameron to Rishi Sunak, including four years as a member of the cabinet. She led the Department for Work and Pensions through the Covid pandemic, served as deputy prime minister and heath secretary under Liz Truss, and was made environment secretary by Rishi Sunak. She left government at the November 2023 reshuffle. 

Dr Coffey joined Tim Durrant, Programme Director for Ministers at the Institute for Government, to reflect on her government career and the challenges of ministerial life. What was it like serving under five different prime ministers? How did she approach running a large delivery-focused department during the pandemic? And are the pressures of ministerial office impacting too much on the lives of politicians?

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