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A game of two halves:how coalition governments renewin mid-term and last the full term
Akash Paun and Stuart Hallifax
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Preace
All governments tend to run out o steam in mid-term. The energy and momentum romtheir initial ormation disappears as governing turns out to be more diicult than wasexpected, at least by ministers, i not by worldly-wise civil servants. Governing partieslose popularity, in both the polls and at local elections; they make mistakes which areseized upon by an increasingly critical media; and underlying personal tensions suracein bickering and actionalism. These are not just political issues. They are about how torenew eective government so as to ensure that diicult problems are tackled and radicalchanges implemented.These dilemmas o government renewal are even more acute in the case o Coalitions,like the Conservative/Liberal Democratic administration now. This is largely new territoryin Westminster and Whitehall where politicians, civil servants and commentators areall going through a learning process. But what is new or them is amiliar in many otherwestern democracies.A Game o Two Halves puts the challenges acing British politicians and civil servants inan international context: looking at how renewal has been tackled in other Coalitions. Anumber o the practices adopted by coalition governments overseas should be consideredhere, not just mid-term stocktakes but also in the negotiation and creation o the originalprogrammes or government to permit greater lexibility later in their lie.The report continues a major strand o the Institute or Government’s work. This started in2009 with a report on government transitions, co-authored by Dr Catherine Haddon andmysel, and a joint publication with the Constitution Unit on the impact a hung parliamentwould have on Westminster and Whitehall. Our work in this area continued ater theelection, with a report on the lessons learnt rom the 2010 transition, and Akash Paun’sexamination o the unctioning o the Coalition in its irst ew months (United We Stand?).The latter proved to be highly inluential and led, ater initial Whitehall reluctance, to astrengthening o support or the Liberal Democrats in government.Akash Paun, with support rom Stuart Halliax, outlines the case or renewal o theCoalition now; examines the options, notably or policymaking, as the Coalition partnersseek to dierentiate themselves; and looks towards the next general election. There is notonly the unknowable question o whether the Coalition will hold together until May 2015but also the tricky issue o how the parties and the Civil Service prepare in very dierentcircumstances rom 2010. This aects the Opposition as much as the current two Coalitionpartners. The transition in 2015 could be as challenging, and possibly more controversial,than in 2010, as Akash Paun makes clear in his thought provoking inal chapter.
Peter Riddell
Director, Institute or Government
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About the authors
Akash Paun
is a senior researcher at the Institute or Government, where he has led anumber o projects on the challenges o coalition government. In 2009 he co-authoreda report assessing the implications or Westminster and Whitehall o a hung parliament,and in 2010 he wrote a report assessing the irst ew months under the Coalition. He hasalso worked on projects exploring the role o select committees in public appointments,the diiculties aced by Whitehall in working across departmental boundaries, and themechanisms used by political parties to select parliamentary candidates. He previouslyworked at the Constitution Unit, University College London.
Stuart Hallifax
worked at the Institute or Government rom September 2011 to May2012, where he was involved in work on Civil Service reorm as well as on the six-monthresearch project leading to this report. He holds a DPhil rom Oxord University on civilianexperiences o the First World War in Britain and previously worked as a curator at theNational Army Museum.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank a number o colleagues or their support during the writingo this report and the research that preceded it. Peter Riddell, in particular, providedintellectual guidance and helped deine the scope o the project, as well as editing theinal drat. Julian McCrae and Nadine Smith provided useul comments on drats andrecommendations. We have also drawn on research conducted by others at the Institute,notably Catherine Haddon, Peter Riddell and Justine Stephen. Finally, we are grateul toAndrew Murphy and William Knighton or their invaluable help in bringing this report topublication.We are also hugely grateul to all the busy people in Westminster, Whitehall andgovernments elsewhere in the world or sparing their time to share their experience andadvice. Some o these are cited by name in the pages that ollow, but many others mustremain anonymous. This report could not have happened without their contribution.Cover images rom STEFAN WERMUTH/AP/PA and rom the oicial photostream o thePrime Minister o the United Kingdom, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.As ever, the authors bear responsibility or any errors and inaccuracies.
Contents
About the authors 3Acknowledgements 3Executive summary 41. Introduction 102. What’s different about Coalition government? 123. Mid-term policy renewal: options and constraints 164. Reshuffles and machinery of government change 345. Renewing while differentiating: what works? 396. The final straight: governing up till the next election 52Notes 63
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