Reproduced article that first appeared in The Times newspaper on 24 July 2019
In the theatre of Westminster the final curtain is about to come down on one of its main characters, Prime Minister Theresa May. I can safely predict a healthy dose of tears, smiles and applause as she walks out of that famous black door of No10 for the last time. If she had to pick a tune to accompany her exit, My Way by the late Frank Sinatra would feel suitably apt.
After a short interlude, the curtain will rise again with the black gates of Downing Street swinging open to welcome the convoy carrying Boris Johnson, minutes after leaving his audience with the Queen.
It will be an extremely high-octane day for the No 10 staff who will have the task of preparing May for the day ahead, with the added bonus (if you can call it that) of having one final PMQs to get through.
The civil servants will have been working on a plan to ensure a dignified exit for May and an energetic start for her successor — think briefings, the scheduling of meetings etc.
I spent six years in Downing Street and was part of the operation supporting David Cameron and his team’s exit and the welcoming of May and her team. To say this changeover is a bizarre experience is an understatement.
For me it began with working discreetly on preparations for the exit while your (soon to be former) political colleagues are still working alongside you, and in my case being the only civil servant in a room of politicos.
Strangely, I felt disloyal, but this is the brutal reality of politics — “The king is dead; long live the king.”
Changeover day itself brought a heady mix of emotions as I said goodbye to my political friends I had worked morning, noon and night with for five years — hugs, tears and the feeling of the end of era.
There was a scramble to the long corridor that runs from the front door of No 10 as the staff line up either side to “clap out” the prime minister. Once this was done, we watched the final moments play out on the big screens before making the final preparations for the new “boss”.
At this point, a calm descends. People snap out of the sadness of what has just happened, and energy builds for the moment we line up again to “clap in” the new boss. After that the No 10 machinery purrs excitedly into life.
For the new political team, waiting behind that famous door is a Rolls-Royce team who will pull out all of the stops to help them and the new PM to succeed.
I hope they are walking in with a clear plan of action. You are never more in control than the moment you walk through that door. From then on, the calls begin, the papers start flowing, decisions need to be made and crises erupt — all of which can throw you off course.
The treadmill runs quick, and it never, ever stops until the day you walk out of there for the final time.
Robin Gordon-Farleigh, a former No 10 senior communications strategist, is a founding partner of Manara Global
Changeover from old Prime Minister to new is a bizarre experience