We need to talk about what happens if Labour win in 2015

A Labour government next year is far from certain. But it’s nonetheless imperative that we start thinking about what happens if Labour do enter office. Good policies and a successful election campaign aren’t enough to ensure real and visible benefits for people. If, when push came to shove, we didn’t implement policies effectively, the extensive campaigning and the work done around policy planning a in run up to the election would have been a waste. What’s more, unfulfilled promises would reinforce many people’s disillusionment with politics, expressed most recently through votes (and abstentions) in the European elections.

For Labour governments, implementing policies is much harder than for Tory ones. We are trying to bring about constructive change, and that means we have to tackle a complex web of obstacles. For instance, to address low educational achievement, we also have to look at poverty, unemployment, poor housing and dysfunctional family life, because such factors are often mutually reinforcing. Whereas for Conservative governments, the main aim is to reduce expenditure and minimise the state and so answers are far easier to come by: all they have to do is cut. This certainly doesn’t require as much of an understanding of how the society works or what public support hinges upon.

The reason I say this is that during the last Labour government, I worked on policy implementation in a government department. From that experience, I’ve outlined three challenges to policy implementation that need our urgent attention:

1. Policies should be changed mid-stream only if there is a compelling case to do so. Over time, new thoughts and new events make tweaks and changes seem attractive, particularly for a newly appointed minister. But changes could complicate matters for front-line workers who have to implement policy, blunting their impact.
2. Vested interests are always tricky, and the hardest vested interests to work with are those of our friends: unions and lobbyists for public services and policies that we want to develop. When people representing these interests argue their own corners too narrowly, we must stand up to them without falling out.
3. The civil service is justifiably proud of its integrity and it is good at dancing attendance on ministers. But it is still not well focussed when it comes to making big change happen. In particular, it is terrible at working on issues that cross-departmental boundaries, because most civil servants belong to just one department.
4. Follow-up is essential for policy implementation, and it must include judicious pressure to sustain good policies, even those that have been around for a while.
5. Worries over presentation can drive governments to soft-pedal policies, and sometimes that’s right. But a sound policy that delivers benefits can be a powerful presentational tool too, even if takes a little time.

These and other challenges are difficult ones to grapple with. The Labour party should draw on the valuable expertise of its members and supporters who worked on the policies of the 1997-2010 Government. Some were ministers, MPs and councillors, others were employed in public services, in voluntary organisations and even as contractors. The party should ask such people to help it prepare to govern.

To win in 2015 Labour does need to put together the right policies and campaign effectively. But if we are successful, it’s just as important to make ourselves ready to deliver our policies.