This is a timely book published nine months from a general election that may well see Labour make a rapid return to government. The author addresses a deceptively simple question that has bedevilled generations of politicians and officials: why does British government never work as effectively as we would like it to? Political rivals argue trenchantly about the direction of policy but rarely address how they would make change happen on the ground. As successive prime ministers have discovered to their detriment, too often the levers available to them in Whitehall are not connected to anything outside.
Ed Straw, a management consultant who has worked on a series of organisational reviews for the Labour party since the 1990s, examines the mechanics of policy implementation in a culture where politicians no longer perceive themselves as responsible for delivery. In asking why the government does not work as adeptly as we would like, he outlines a programme of far-reaching reform: a ‘treaty for government’ entailing proportional voting, a democratic system for changing the prime minister, reforms of party funding, fixed four-year parliaments, a citizens’ right to call a referendum, and new measures to ensure ministerial probity. The aim is a more ‘competitive’ democracy in an age when trust in government is rapidly receding.
Since 2010, Ed Miliband has established an ambitious direction of travel anchored in the concept of ‘One Nation’ Labour aspiring to radically refashion British capitalism. In the run-up to the election, his objective will be to put flesh on the bones of what a Labour government would actually do in an era of austerity. Banking reform, a long-term culture of investment in British business, fairer markets in utilities and transport, overhauling vocational education and training – these are laudable goals, yet they have eluded almost all postwar governments. Difficult decisions await the party about how Labour would address long-term challenges, from integrating social care to building a Nordic system of universal childcare.
What will be required is a clear sense of governing strategy, and a willingness to engage voters in an honest conversation about the tough choices that lie ahead. In his invaluable and weighty contribution, Straw rightly insists that the great 20th century ideological battles between state socialism and market liberalism are over, potentially giving way to a contest between rival political parties about effective governance that solves long-standing problems. Yet it is far from clear that ideology no longer matters in British politics: in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and great recession, questions about the relationship between states and markets, and the relationship between public and private interests, have returned with a vengeance.
There will continue to be more to social democracy than a technocratic concern with ‘what works’. Nonetheless, genuinely democratic and effective governance that regains the trust of citizens would be the most powerful ally centre-left politics could have.
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Patrick Diamond is lecturer in public policy at Queen Mary University of London and vice-chair of Policy Network
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Stand and Deliver: A Design for Successful Government
Ed Straw
YPD Books | 256pp | £8.99