‘Big society’ tsar Lord Wei leaves post after less than a year

Lord Nat Wei was praised by David Cameron for his role in developing the 'big society' policy. Photograph:Cabinet Office

This article titled “‘Big society’ tsar Lord Wei leaves post after less than a year” was written by Polly Curtis, Whitehall correspondent, for The Guardian on Tuesday 24th May 2011 20.07 UTC

Lord Wei, the man parachuted into the House of Lords to lead the government’s “big society” project, is to leave his post after less than a year.

Wei, dubbed the big society tsar, is leaving to work for a charity. The Cabinet Office has scrapped his role and the Downing Street policy unit will now take responsibility for the programme.

A Cabinet Office spokesman insisted that it did not mark a scaling back of the prime minister’s ambitions for the big society, saying that Wei had completed the work of developing the policy so there is no need to replace him.

The news came just a day after David Cameron gave a major speech on the subject in what was widely interpreted as his fourth relaunch of the project, which has struggled to register with the public and faced cynicism from Tory backbenchers.

Cameron thanked the peer for his “hard work” while Wei said he was glad to have played a “modest” role in the project.

Labour said the flagship policy was descending into a “farce” with no one in government now responsible for it.

Wei said in February that he was scaling back his hours to spend more time with his family and earn more money. His statement caused widespread comment about the practicality of a policy that relied, in part, on the development of a volunteering culture that could clash with the realities of people’s everyday working lives.

It also emerged that when Wei was asked to do the job, only at the last minute did he find out the post was unpaid.

He also had to drop his work with other charities to avoid a conflict of interest. It is understood that the government was unable to offer him a paid adviser post as it was attempting to reduce the number of such appointments.

He was given a Tory peerage – making him Lord Wei of Shoreditch – and a desk in the Cabinet Office as the “big society tsar”.

Nat Wei, 34, is a former management consultant who has no private income to fall back on. He worked for Ark, one of the biggest sponsors of academies, before setting up the Shaftesbury Partnership, a social entrepreneurial company.

He will now go to work Community Foundation Network, charity that promotes “community philanthropy”.

Cameron said in a statement: “Nat has worked incredibly hard over two years to help develop policies that support the big society.

“He has played an important role in delivering key initiatives like community organisers, national citizen service and the big society bank. I wish him every success in his new role with the Community Foundation Network.”

Wei said: “I will always be proud to have played a modest role in helping lay the foundations here on which the big society will be built in years to come.

“I want to thank everyone, but particularly the prime minister, for giving me this opportunity and for pursuing this vision with courage and determination.

“I look forward to helping in my own small way outside government – because it is out there, in local communities, that the heavy lifting must now be done.”

Tessa Jowell, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “No doubt everyone will wish Nat Wei well, but yet again the big society is descending into farce.

“Only a day after Cameron told us all to take more responsibility, it appears that there will now be nobody in his government responsible for bringing the big society into reality.”

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