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This is basically the entirety of what is represented by the staff of the 'Civil Service' in the BBC show Yes Minister

"James Hacker: The Opposition aren't the opposition.

Annie Hacker: No of course not, silly of me. They're just called the opposition.

James Hacker: They're only the opposition in exile. The Civil Service is the opposition in residence."

Curiously, this dialogue appears in an episode called Big Brother, in which the Minister is trying to add safeguards to a national citizens database.

There have always been concerns about "bureaucratic lifers" in governments, including the US and U.K.