Hacker Ministry - Tenure of Government

Tenure of Government

There is no reason to believe that the broadcast dates of the series (1980–1988) are meant to square with the actual dates Hacker took office as Minister or Prime Minister. There is, in fact, ample evidence to assume that while the two series were broadcast over a period of nine years, that the events the series chronicled took place over a considerably shorter period of time. Note that within the show, episodes that were broadcast years apart were explicitly identified in dialogue as taking place within days of each other.

Later, when Lynn and Jay wrote the novelizations of the two series (which are written in diary form, with each entry dated), the Yes Minister volumes take place over the course of two years, and the Yes, Prime Minister volume takes place over the course of one year. Specifically which years, however, are not explicitly identified in the text.

Nevertheless, it is possible to figure out Hacker's tenure of office as Minister Administrative Affairs, and the beginning of his term as PM, through a handful of internal clues. The story "The Skeleton In The Cupboard" (the final story in Yes, Minister) takes place in the early 1980s, as it revolves around the uncovering of a scandal that took place "thirty years ago" in "the early fifties". "Party Games", the opening story in Yes, Prime Minister, follows on directly after this story, and in it Hacker makes a speech that he believes will secure his nomination as PM on Friday, 13 January. The only time 13 January fell on Friday in the early 1980s was in 1984. Note that further dates in the book (Thursday, 19 July, etc.) also fall in with the 1984 dating.

In the books, then, Hacker's terms of office can be partially worked out as follows:

• Member of Parliament for Birmingham East: From circa 1961 through sometime after 1984
• Shadow Minister of Agriculture: c. 1974/75 - 21 October 1981
• Minister of Administrative Affairs: 24 October 1981 – 17 January 1984
• Prime Minister: 18 January 1984 - late 80's/early 90's

The final diary entry in Yes, Prime Minister is for 14 November of the year Hacker took office. An epilogue to the American edition of Yes, Prime Minister mentions that Hacker continued as prime minister after this initial year, and details some of his later political triumphs and failures. This epilogue mentions the "later years" of Hacker's tenure as PM, implying that Hacker served as PM for a considerable period of time.

In the TV series, the Prime Minister Hacker succeeded (and served under, as Minister of Administrative Affairs) is unnamed and unseen. In the book Yes, Prime Minister, Hacker's predecessor is identified as Herbert Attwell.

In the novelisation, Sir Humphrey's personal papers were released under the Thirty Year Rule in 2019. These papers began from the start of Hacker's career at the Department of Administrative Affairs, and must have been completed by 1989, thirty years prior to their release. We can therefore conclude that all of "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" took place prior to 1989, which corresponds to the dating above.