Policy Research Media Morhamburn

For most of us this week is about edging back into the humdrum of normality after the Christmas excesses. But this week the New Year brings with it a new stage in the ever looming UK election campaign. Perhaps this is the pre-race warm-up that has now started in earnest. All the parties are starting their stretches and lunges in preparation for what can only be described as an electoral campaign of gargantuan proportions.

Maybe I am too involved in the to-ing and fro-ing of politics but that is part and parcel of my job – but doesn’t it feel like this pre-election non-campaigning has been going on for an eternity? Perhaps as a result of current voter apathy and revulsion at last year’s expenses scandal the new plan from mainstream parties is to wear us into submission through a very long, protracted and unclear campaign, which keeps substance and policy tightly guarded secrets.

There’s a long way (most likely) to go yet and as the American Presidential election clearly illustrated the initial front runners, who could almost have been forgiven for planning their interior design revamp, don’t always go the distance. With a campaign that is shaping up to be more of an endurance contest rather than focusing on the substance of policy and vision, it is difficult to get enthusiastic about the election in general and more specifically the fresh mandate for the winning party (or parties as the speculation goes).

Rumours and questions pervade and abound: is there a cabal forming within Labour pushing and plotting to dethrone Gordon Brown before the election; will Labour march into the next election behind their current leader ready to be judged by the people; which Miliband brother shall the party flock to; will the Tories succeed in romancing the populace into a new love affair (after all the ‘80s are back – according to the high street anyway); are the Lib Dems to be thrust firmly back into the spotlight after years in the political wilderness?

This election arrives at a pivotal juncture in UK politics. The twin challenges of climate change and recession are proving durable and their solutions evasive; voters are faced with a choice that doesn’t include Tony Blair for the first time in 13 years; the UK’s relationship with the devolved nations, specifically Scotland, continues to evolve – divergence both in real policy terms and approach has never before been so apparent; all 3 major UK parties have undergone internal transformations; the very institutional embodiment of UK politics has suffered an indelible blow; and the country appears to be facing an election contest that seems to have forgotten to acknowledge and clarify the core matter of the issues at hand. Though I do hope we see the triumph of policy over endurance this campaign.

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