Blairite men have gone – with ministers such as Andrew Adonis expelled, while reforming civil servants such as Bruce Liddington are excluded.
Public servants, such as police, firefighters and merchant seaman, were generally well recorded but the level of detail varies.
Under Labour the state has acquired new legions of servants, such as the 200,000-odd teaching assistants who have made no discernible difference to exam results.
It is no longer a working-class party; Mr Martins's researches show that for its activists it now depends heavily on middle-class public servants, such as teachers.
Retired civil servants, such as government administrators, government teachers and healthcare workers, constitute roughly 4% of the population and are eligible for a small state pension.
Even the First Division Association FDAA), which represents top civil servants such as Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, warned that the government was going too far in holding down pay.
A new survey suggests the beginnings of a recovery, but approval remains low: as a profession, policemen score closer to accountants, lawyers and other villains than to sainted public servants such as doctors and teachers.
While institutions were created and discarded according to his changing needs, Muḥammad ʿAlī depended essentially upon the members of his own family, particularly Ibrāhīm, and loyal servants, such as his Armenian confidant Boghos Bey.
A large, powerful ministry (the Home Office), with experienced civil servants such as Sir Robert Armstrong, wanted change, but in the last instance protected the existence of an institution they believed the country and world to be better for.
