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Terri CoverleyTerri C
Last updated: 11/02/2025 | System ID: DQARS-2024

Series 1 Episodes

Following the forced exit of Cliff Lawton amid intense press pressure, Hugh Abbot was appointed as Minister for Social Affairs. His tenure began with a significant misstep when he misinterpreted the Prime Minister's position and announced the development of a benefit fraud detection unit, dubbed the 'Snooper Force', without Treasury consultation. This led to a crisis where Abbot and his advisors Oliver Reeder and Glenn Cullen had merely forty minutes to improvise a new policy for an imminent press briefing. The situation was further complicated when Malcolm Tucker, the Government's Director of Communications, forced Abbot to enhance his cultural knowledge through intensive study of popular media, only to discover that a focus group member influencing key policy decisions had appeared as an extra in one of these programmes. The period culminated in a serious scandal when the press uncovered that Abbot was maintaining an empty second property by listing it on the market while rejecting all offers, bringing him to the brink of resignation.

3 Episodes

Series 1 – Episode 1

Following intense media pressure, Cliff Lawton was removed from office and Hugh Abbot appointed as Minister for Social Affairs. Abbott's first major policy initiative, a benefit fraud detection unit, faced immediate scrutiny when Treasury consultation procedures were bypassed.

19 May 2005
30 minutes

Episode 1

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Series 1 – Episode 2

Government Communications Director Malcolm Tucker intervened in departmental affairs after concerns arose about Minister Hugh Abbot's disconnect from public sentiment. A focus group consultation on contradictory policies was compromised when it emerged that one participant had undisclosed media industry connections.

26 May 2005
30 minutes

Episode 2

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Series 1 – Episode 3

A ministerial communications incident involving an eight-year-old constituent complicated Hugh Abbot's position on special education policy reform. Senior Civil Servant Terri Coverley faced scrutiny over departmental email protocols.

2 June 2005
30 minutes

Episode 3

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