Preparing for Power: Ep 4 – The governing party

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Politics, Government

4.6 • 252 Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A general election is getting closer – and whoever forms the next government needs to be prepared. The campaign will dominate time and resources, but the job of being in government begins almost as soon as the votes have been counted. Preparing for Power, a special six-part series from the Institute for Government, takes you behind the scenes to find out how our politicians, their advisers and officials block out the noise of a general election campaign to get ready for what comes after. Episode 4 explores how the governing party prepares for an election while continuing to govern, with ministers, civil servants and special advisers – including Oliver Letwin, Harriet Harman, Gus O'Donnell, Polly Mackenzie and Nick Macpherson – revealing how they approached the work of government during an election campaign.  How does a governing party balance a gruelling campaign alongside running the country? What are the advantages of being the party in power as the election approaches? And how can a governing party make the most of those final months before polling day? Veterans of the 2010 and 2015 elections share their stories. Produced by Milo Hynes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In some ways it's a huge benefit, the incumbency, in other ways it adds to the stress because you realise what you have to lose.
0:18.0	When you're in government, your campaigning is really about trying to explain to people what
0:24.8	you've done and why it was good and why you need to carry on doing it.
0:29.9	Hello and welcome to preparing for power, a special inside briefing podcast brought to you
0:34.9	by the Institute for Government. The days, weeks and months ahead are going to be dominated by opinion polls and campaign slogans,
0:43.3	policy pledges and manifesto launches. But what about the morning after election night?
0:48.3	Whoever forms the next government will need to be prepared, and the job begins almost as soon as the votes have been counted.
0:57.6	So what is it like to go from opposition to government overnight?
1:02.9	How do civil servants get ready for the possibility of a transition of power or a hung parliament?
1:07.9	And what is it like for a governing party to continue in power after a bruising campaign?
1:11.9	Over the next six weeks, the Institute for Government will be taking you behind the scenes to find out how our politicians, advisers and officials block out the noise
1:17.2	of a general election campaign to get ready for being in government. We'll be speaking to former
1:22.5	ministers, special advisors and senior civil servants to discover how they prepared for that all-important election
1:28.6	result, to hear their secrets and to work out the lessons for 2024.
1:39.0	I'm Catherine Haddon, program director at the Institute for Government. In this episode, we'll be looking at how
1:44.8	governing parties prepare for an election. For the party in government, an election is a mandate
1:50.3	on their time in office, a chance to fight for continuing to deliver on their priorities,
1:55.7	and the difference between being in power or being kicked out. And the governing party has many
2:00.7	benefits before the election.
2:02.9	It can choose the date of an election, it has the means to set the political agenda in the months
2:07.6	before a campaign, and it has access to the civil service, an advantage when contemplating future
2:13.7	policy plans. But the electoral prospects facing the governing party can be very different
	...

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