Changing Britain - and a step towards Purposeful Britain
Last week the people of the UK voted for 'change' - change to a Government in service of its people. Country-first, party-second. The politics of self-interest banished, and a new refreshing type of non-partisan 'politics' promised, focused on the national interest, which takes us back to Aristotle's definition of it.
With five national missions, six first steps, and mission delivery boards now being set up, focus is now on delivery - delivering Labour's five missions and beginning a decade of national renewal. With clear messaging that it will take time, will the new Government get two terms in office to do this? and will delivery of missions be enough?
With a resounding majority in Parliament (majority of over 170) this certainly appears possible, yet many experts/commmentators (including a number of Labour MP's) point out this huge majority is partly down to i) a 'first-past-the-post' electoral system, to ii) new/intelligent campaign strategies, and to iii) growing levels of tactical voting from an electorate increasingly desperate to kick the previous Government out (ie not necessarily a wholehearted/strong manifesto endorsement).
Firstly they point to the unusually low percentage share of the vote obtained by an incoming Government (34%), and secondly, to the fact that only 1/5 (ie 20%) of the entire electorate/country voted for the Labour Party (nb this is lower than during Labour's recent/disastrous elections). Such results are partly explained by i) a low election turnout (60%), ii) increased attention on marginal seats, iii) a steep rise in votes for alternative/popularist parties (42%), iv) an increased lack of trust in politics/politicians, and v) a purposeless/gaff-prone campaign run by the previous Government (24%).
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has also found the true turnout to be much lower than the turnout officially stated too, with only 1/2 (52%) of the adult population actually voting (nb official figures refer to registered voters only). This represents the lowest turnout since 1928 and the vote being extended to all adults (Representation of the People Act, 1928). The new Government are rightly concerned by this low turnout and are looking to bring in automatic voter registration to help address this (as well as other measures too). The Prime Minister has made clear that he's determined to address the state of trust in politics too, stating the Government will always put country-first, party-second. Clearly lots more will need to done to rebuild trust and turn things around however the early signals are good.
Stabilising the economy and public services, with its initial missions/plans are critical first steps to providing the foundations of a new Purposeful Britain. To ensure a second term and a decade of national renewal more will need to be done, building on these foundations. 'Delivery' (of missions) alone will not be enough to achieve this, as the US is finding (e.g. see 'the death of deliverism'). It'll be crucial for the new Government to take advantage of its large majority to become gradually bolder and to paint an engaging/purposeful vision for Britain, one capable of activating/engaging the entire nation in a clear/driving sense of purpose - e.g. to improve wellbeing, embrace innovation, renew hope & opportunity, and create a thriving flourishing future.
For effective governance, Parliament also needs an effective/purposeful opposition to hold the Government to account. Growing political parties will seek to do this, and the previous Government (just like the Labour Party five years ago) will need to do a lot of thoughtful soul-searching to re-discover its purpose, values and principles, if it is going to do this effectively too (as past Conservative Ministers and Conservative Mayors have all highlighted).
Like all responsible citizens in this great nation (who voted for the incoming Government or not) we wish the new Government every success in creating a better Britain, an increasingly purposeful Britain, and following the new Prime Minister's 'call to arms', we put ourselves forward in service of the nation to help in this endeavour.
David Clift
Purposeful Ambassador®
Co-founder, Purposeful Education
Founder, Good Turns & Purposeful Enterprises
Co-developer of Purposeful Britain and a Purposeful World
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