Tony Blair

You've come in as the elected politician.

You're temporary.

And, you know, we know how to do this.

And if you only just let us alone, we would carry on managing the status quo in the right way.

And so that's the toughest thing.

It's making that transition.

Well, it wouldn't be that you wouldn't do Prime Minister's question because Parliament will insist on that.

And you certainly wouldn't want to offend, well, it was the Queen in my time.

No, but you're right.

What you would do is have a much clearer idea of how to give direction to the bureaucracy and how to bring in outside skilled people who can help you deliver change.

And so, you know, I always split my premiership into the first five years,

which in some ways were the easiest.

We were doing things that were important, like a minimum wage.

We did big devolution.

We did the Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

But it was only really in the second half of my premiership that we started to reform healthcare, education, criminal justice.

And those systemic reforms require, that's when your skillset as a chief executive really comes into play.

And I think a lot about this.

The truth is those skills would transfer to being a political leader.

But they're not the only skills you need because you've still got to be a political leader.