Wales is marking ten years since a typing error in a ministerial appointments document in the then-Assembly put a red squirrel in charge for almost eight weeks.
Civil servants assumed the appointment was intentional and gave the squirrel an office, a security pass, and a bowl of mixed nuts.
During its administration, hospital waiting lists fell and Welsh education standards reached their highest recorded levels.
Carwyn Jones and Lee Waters with the administration’s strongest performer, pictured during its brief period in office.
The former Welsh First Minister, who wished to remain anonymous, recalled how the situation initially went unnoticed.
“It looked busy and nobody understood what it was doing,” Carwyn Jones said. “We assumed everything was proceeding normally.”
“Then it started making decisions.”
“Then it started making decisions,” he continued. “Obviously, that raised concerns.”
Lee Waters remembered cabinet meetings becoming considerably shorter.
“If you spoke for more than two minutes, it threw a hazelnut at you. We got through the entire transport brief before lunch.”
The error was eventually discovered when the squirrel buried the budget beneath a tree in Bute Park and refused to disclose its location.
Normal government arrangements were swiftly restored.
A committee established to investigate how the squirrel achieved so much without establishing a committee has yet to publish its findings.
It has now been meeting for ten years.
