What are the lessons from the UK’s successful vaccine taskforce? Here’s a first stab. No 10 hired someone with proven ability and long experience of making big investment decisions in biosciences. They let her build a team she trusted and backed her judgments. 1/

They delegated decisions to a small group of Cabinet ministers representing the key departments and didn’t let others muscle in or second guess them. They made sure the taskforce could move fast and take calculated risks. 2/

This model won’t work for everything. On other issues a more deliberative and consultative process is required. But anyone who wants to see the British government be more dynamic and effective should study what happened in this remarkable, and all too rare, success story. END