The number of government ‘tsars’ is on the increase and their work is directly impacting government policy, according to the first in-depth review of tsars, carried out by researchers at King’s College London.
In their report, researchers reveal that over 260 tsars were appointed between May 1997 and July 2012. They found the prominence of tsars has soared, from a rate of 3 appointments per annum in the first New Labour administration to a rate of 43 per annum since the Coalition came to power in 2010.
Dr Ruth Levitt and William Solesbury, Visiting Senior Research Fellows in the Department of Political Economy at King’s, found that ministers clearly value the work of tsars, because they see the arrangement as speedy, cheap, authoritative and direct and they frequently heed the advice their tsars give them.