The Conservatives have been warning voters of the dangers of Labour winning a huge – or 'super' – majority at the general election on Thursday. But what exactly is a supermajority, and do these warnings add up? With just under a week to go until …
Unsurprisingly, both the Scottish and Welsh nationalist manifestos include a range of proposals for strengthening devolution. Plaid Cymru echo the findings of the Independent Commission on the Future of Wales, including a call for full transfer of justice …
Crumbling buildings, creaking IT and a lack of equipment will continue to seriously hamper public service performance unless the next government takes a new approach to capital spending. This report, published with Grant Thornton UK LLP, reveals the impact …
If elected a Labour government will face 10 major barriers to hitting its 2030 clean power target – and needs a plan for week one, month one and its first 100 days in power to overcome them. Should Labour be returned to power for the first time in 14 years …
Letter to The Times Trust in politics, and in the people and institutions of public life in the UK, is at an all-time low. This is a serious problem for the health of our democracy and is indicative of the need for substantial improvement in the governance …
In this guest paper Tim Oates, who was closely involved in the development of the new school curriculum for England launched by Michael Gove in 2014, shares his views on what constitutes good policy making, and what political parties can do to best support …
A final, tenth lesson is that the lasting success of the strategy will ultimately depend on the institutions it creates and the capabilities they deploy. In the words of Dani Rodrik, the foremost scholar of the topic: “the public sector is not omniscient… …
There are less than two weeks to go until the general election and the polls are showing no signs of shifting. But what do they really tell us about what voters are thinking about Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer? Which Labour or Conservative policies and …
How much of England has devolution? There are currently 12 areas with mayoral devolution in England: Greater London, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Tees Valley, …
When Michael Gove announced that he would not be a candidate in the forthcoming election the reaction was as eclectic as the man himself. There was some of the critical commentary that always accompanies the end of a long and contentious political career, …
All ministers find it useful to have a sense of departmental activity, progress and challenges outside their own brief, and private office teams play a crucial role in helping them to stay abreast of those wider developments. But this is particularly vital …
3. Talk to the right people – and ask the right questions Ministers often find it helpful to bring a range of views, including from more junior policy or operational officials, into the policy making process. George Eustice, the former environment …
2. Ask for help if unsure At first glance, the rules around the ethical standards expected of ministers are simple, but there are lots of areas of complexity and it can be difficult to know how it applies to each circumstance. There are plenty of people …
1. Be clear on what you’re trying to achieve – and if setting targets is the best way to do that Well-designed targets are clear about the problem they seek to address, and about what a successful outcome looks like. Achieving this for a particular public …
"So I was faced with making decisions on things and places I had never heard of, and had absolutely no understanding of the arcane public accounting concepts that they used: DEL and RDEL and CDEL. They trip off the tongue now." Vince Cable, …
2. Explore your options for bringing in expertise As a minister, there is a range of tools that allow you to draw on outside expertise. Advisory committees can provide advice in various ways. Some may be standing committees about a broadly defined policy …
A daunting public services to-do list awaits the winner of the general election. Most services are performing worse than on the eve of the pandemic and substantially worse than in 2010, but future funding is set to be tight. Ministers will need to make …
"I pretty much assumed it would be the end for me, and actually used the final six weeks to just get as many final decisions over the line as I could." George Eustice, Secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs (2020–22) …
It’s the Holy Grail. The answer to all our problems. The key to, well pretty much anything the next government wants to – and can – achieve. Rishi Sunak made it one of his five pledges. Keir Starmer placed it front and centre of Labour’s manifesto. But …
The Conservative campaign appears to have switched from offensive to defensive – instead of promoting the new policy ideas which were the focus of the first weeks of the campaign, Conservative candidates are focusing on highlighting the risks to democracy …
