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It is too simplistic to blame the actions of a leader on their advisors. Advisors advise. Real leaders lead. And picking good advisors is part of a leader’s role.

Theresa May built her reputation at the Home Office on being competent. But her election campaign was incompetent.

So it is annoying to hear Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy ran a very tight ship on the lines of the Tony Blair model.

There were some very big differences. We looked outwards, not inwards, and that reflected the personality of our boss.

The inward-looking, controlling nature of the May operation reflects hers.

(Image: Alex Livesey)

We made every effort to get on with senior civil servants because we knew they were essential to the Labour government being able to deliver objectives.

And Tony Blair saw it as part of our job to make sure ministers were fully involved in what we were doing.

Timothy and Hill ran Theresa May’s life for her in the Home Office, but the same style could be translated to No 10.

You can’t make that judgment, that jump, to national leader, without understanding how different the scale of the job is.

In leadership you do have to run a tight ship and make sure everything is properly co-ordinated.

But you have to be able to run an operation that reaches far and wide so people feel involved.

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You can’t afford to alienate people who are essentially your supporters.

Even if Hill and Timothy’s resignations herald a change in Mrs May’s approach, she should not think it ends her problems.

She appointed them, sanctioned what they did and allowed herself to be influenced by their judgment to the extent that she was. That exposes a lack of judgement on her side.

Now Corbyn is in a far stronger position than he was. I hope he takes a bigger leadership role on Brexit – building arguments across parties about how the UK might best take this forward.