Sir Humphrey definitely is a devil. you might think him a straightforward trickster but every now and again he shows a flash of his true self
the devilish thing about Humphrey Appleby is that he's so close to correct. _most_ of what he does makes great sense. the ministers are blundering into a complicated apparatus, nitpicking at line items because it looks impressive to people who have zero understanding of how complicated a large system of government really is
Yes Minister, devils in details Afficher plus
but every now and again he'll throw a wrench into any plan, however sound, to change government apparatus simply because it's Just Not Done
that's when you know he's not _really_ interested in the best administration, he's just a rules lawyer, a petty tyrant over points of order. and that's when he starts doing things like making the Prime Minister fear that there's a plot against him
Humphrey's a true conservative, rules are rules, however absurd they might be