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In the UK, policy debates took place behind closed doors. The policy community centred on the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, his chief adviser Dominic Cummings and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock. They were supported by civil servants, especially those with medical expertise, the Chief Scientific Officer, Patrick Vallance and the Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty. Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty acted as a link between the ministers and scientific advisers who sat on various specialist committees, SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), SPI-​M-​O (Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling) and SPI-​B (Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours).

Some parts of this policy community were visible to the public; for example, the minsters and their medical advisers presented government policy in press briefings: in the first wave these were daily. However, the discussion and debates that underpinned the development of this policy were often hidden. In the case of COVID-​19, journalists working for national newspapers and broadcasters have used sources in the government and freedom of information requests to find out what happened.