The former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson, credited as one of the architects of the New Labour project, has offered ten lessons for an incoming administration looking to bring about transformative change, based on his experience in government.
Speaking at a one-day conference entitled ‘Britain Renewed’ this week, he set out the following ideas:
- “Politics is about people. It’s a gigantic, great HR exercise.” Primarily it involves the people you serve, but this also takes in the people you appoint. “We didn’t have all the right people in the right jobs, in 1997,” he said, and because of that, “arguably wasted a year in some departments, in some cases more”.
- “Civil service is not a self-starting machine. It runs on purpose and direction supplied by ministers.” Mandelson continued: “Officials obviously will then refine, and hone, and add detail and advise a lot on delivery. But they’ll not tell you what you want to achieve.”
- “Government is about method, and the principle method is how you devise policy and strategy… you have to get the method right, the process right.”
- “Never, ever be afraid to consult. It’s not a sign of weakness, as some people in my party seem to see it as. It can help avert unseen consequences of policy and legislation.”
- “Organise outliers and trailblazers to go before you… to drive the agenda, to drive the discourse around the policy you’re talking about… the discourse about what you want to do in government. Government can then respond to a growing groundswell of potential consensus. That’s the way round it should be, in my view.”
- “First impressions of a government count for a lot… People will reach rapid conclusions about the character of a government, the style of a government” and first impressions “stick”.
- “Communication is not an afterthought” – it “has to be an integral part of any policy at the planning stage of that policy”. Communication should also be “two way”– “you’re not just speaking at people, you’re inviting people to communicate with you”.
- “In government, you only know what’s being achieved if it’s measured… if it’s not measured in a sense it doesn’t exist. You don’t know what it is, you don’t know what the output is, you don’t know what the impact of it is, you don’t know how it’s affecting people in the country, in real life.” He argued: “It’s the difference between taking a decision and being accountable for it.”
- “Our system depends on a strong centre”… “Those who say that departmental autonomy is a key to good government should be careful what they wish for.”
- “Democracy means having a permanent opposition”… “You’re not in government and suddenly you’re free” to plan and make decisions unfettered. This includes both the opposing party, Mandelson argued, and also the media.
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