I was first elected in 1982 by 1997. I was the absolute expert, the Queen of Opposition.

There was nothing I didn't know about being in opposition,

but there was nothing I knew about being in government. What are some of the tough things,

which will show rewards in three, four, five years time that you want to do early? All those

sorts of things require you to have done preparation. Hello and welcome to preparing for power, a special inside briefing podcast brought to you

by the Institute for Government. The days, weeks and months ahead are going to be dominated by

opinion polls and campaign slogans, policy pledges and manifesto launches. But what about the

morning after election night? Whoever forms the next government will need to be prepared and the

job begins almost as soon as the votes have been counted. So what's it like to go from opposition

to government overnight? How do civil servants get ready for the possibility of a transition

of power or of a hung parliament? And what is it like for a governing party to continue in power

after a bruising campaign? In this series, the Institute for Governments

takes you behind the scenes to find out how our politicians,

their advisors and officials block out the noise

of a general election campaign to get ready for being in government.

We'll be speaking to former ministers, special advisors

and senior civil servants to discover how they prepared

for that all-important election

result and its aftermath, to hear their secrets and to work out the lessons for 2024.

I'm Emma Norris, deputy director at the Institute for Government. In this episode, we'll be

looking at how opposition parties prepare for government.

There's lots to be done, working out policy priorities, turning those policies into plans that can be delivered,

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