Foreword

Beyond the policy-free election

By John O'Leary

It would be easy to dismiss the election as a policy-free zone, in which the parties have disguised their real intentions. But the fact that the campaign has focused far less than usual on detailed proposals for change does not mean that there is nothing at stake on May 6.

In this special election edition of Policy Review magazine, specialist commentators go beyond the rhetoric to analyse the prospects in seven key areas of public service. And Neil Stewart shares his experience of high-level policy making to give an overview of the election and its aftermath.

All our commentators agree that the differences between the main parties are less pronounced and the management of campaigning more tightly-controlled than at any previous election. In every area there are subjects that none of the parties wants to address – mainly related to the management of future reductions in expenditure.

For any party to set out the alarming scale of cuts that will be needed from a new administration would be electoral suicide, unless its rivals were obliged to do the same – and they are not. Call that political cowardice, but it is the reality that has sucked the life out of the campaign.

We examine the manifestoes and the politicians’ record in Government or Opposition to gauge what is really at stake next week. Mike Baker, for example, sees fundamental differences over the school curriculum lurking beneath the headline agreement on more academies and greater parent power. David Walker believes that the common enthusiasm for localism may be only skin-deep when the new Government takes office.

Neil Stewart argues that this election will mark a turning point in the way public services operate. The scale of the deficit will ensure that a sea change takes place, whichever party is the victor – or, indeed, in the increasingly likely event of a hung Parliament. He points out that many of the most fundamental changes of the last 40 years were barely discussed at election time.

Perhaps the difference in this election is that the voters know what is coming. The absence of realistic proposals to maintain high-quality services in the face of unprecedented budget reductions fuels the already considerable disenchantment with politics.

Next month, Policy Review will examine the consequences of the election. We will look afresh at how these challenges will be met, once the voters can be told the worst.

28 April 2010

John O'Leary. Editor, Policy Review Magazine