Thérèse Coffey is Liz Truss’s deputy prime minister – she’ll have to fill the ill-defined shoes of past DPMs.
- Reader in Politics, Cardiff University
To understand what is going on, it helps to look back at past leaders and their first secretaries.
History tells us that having a sidekick at Number 10 can be invaluable for a prime minister in trouble.
Some wild ideas have been put forward for the UK’s seat of power over the years.



