February 13, 2025
If Poilievre intends to continue to preach smaller government, less intrusion and death to red tape it’s reasonable to expect he start the revolution at home. If a British socialist can seek a smaller cabinet to provide better, more efficient management, should a maverick Canadian Conservative demand anything less?

Pierre Poilievre’s small-government revolution should start with cabinet

If British socialist Keir Starmer can cut his cabinet to be better and more efficient, should a Canadian Conservative demand anything less?

Sir Keir Starmer is leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party and looks all but certain to become prime minister sometime between now and Jan. 28, the latest the next election can be held.

Starmer, who got his knighthood from a previous job as the director of public prosecutions, has two things going for him. While he’s not the most exciting or personable politician to come strolling down the pike, he’s not nearly as scary as his batty predecessor, the Marxist crank Jeremy Corbyn. He’s also not nearly as disliked as Rishi Sunak, the fifth consecutive Tory prime minister and third in six years to get the job without voters first having a say-so.

Enough is evidently enough as far as Britons are concerned. In local elections, considered a measure of party fortunes, Sunak’s people got crushed on the weekend, placing third behind Labour and the normally also-ran Liberal-Democrats while losing almost half the seats they previously held.

Labour being Labour, Starmer comes equipped with the usual social improvement projects for the betterment of the benighted masses, including a plan for “supervised toothbrushing” in primary schools, reflecting both Britain’s reputation for Austin Powers-quality incisors and a national shortage of dentists.

But Starmer is also floating a proposal that could recommend itself to Canada’s Conservatives as they seek out ways to be different from Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

Noting that U.K. cabinets are too big, bloated and unwieldy to be effective, Starmer wants to structure his team to include a new executive cabinet with just a handful of top figures holding extra powers to lay down the law on strategy, spending and top priorities to the usual gaggle of appointed ministers. According to a report in the conservative press, the Labour leader is keen on setting up “mission boards” tasked with ensuring government priorities get priority treatment.

Interesting Read…