Prime minister David Cameron's faltering Big Society initiative suffered another major blow this week, when his close friend and policy adviser Steve Hilton (pictured) announced he would take a sabbatical from Number 10 to teach in California.
Westminster insiders suggested Mr Hilton – architect of the amorphous Big Society – was unlikely to return to Downing Street in a senior role. It was claimed he became frustrated by the civil service's stifling conservatism and Tory appeasement of the Liberal Democrats within the coalition, particularly on European and economic policy. Big Society critics said its advocates had failed to explain how the initiative dovetailed with wider devolution and local empowerment plans.
