Interesting. Here in Canuckistan, only the Ministers of Departments and Ministers of State, both being elected (or appointed from the Senate), and Deputy Ministers (appointed), change with a change in government. In addition, the heads/Chairmen/Presidents/etc. (and their appointed Deputies) of many Crown Corporations are often replaced when governments change.
All lower positions in government, up to and including Assistant Deputy Ministers, are members of the Civil Service, and continue in their positions even as governments change. When governments change, I would guess that no more than 200 positions are effected. In Westminster style governments, this is the norm. A humourous, though not necessarily inaccurate depiction of the operation of this system may be found in the ‘Yes, Minister’ and ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ series, produced for BBC Two.
Thank you for the interesting info. I’d never read that before.