Peter Hennessy

Author and journalist Peter Hennessy described the British civil service in his book Whitehall. Whitehall, the name the British call their civil service, derives from Whitehall Palace where many government offices were housed. The civil service is traditionally a very behind-the-scenes organization. ... (more)Hennessy broke tradition by examining the lives and influence of 19th and early 20th century career civil servants in the public eye. British civil servants, unlike their U.S. counterparts, keep their positions when the government changes. Hennessy, who has reported on the British service since the early 1970s, additionally examined the "code of honor" that has been a part of civil service culture. Whitehall was rocked in the 1970s after a number of corruption cases were discovered. Hennessy finished the interview talking of the civil service today and its evolution under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.