Published : May 14, 2010

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So what did the Liberal Democrats get? At first sight quite a lot. The list begins with Nick Clegg’s appointment as Deputy Prime Minister and four other cabinet posts; it includes a referendum on the AV voting system, commitments to scale back the scope of the so called surveillance state (which most Conservatives were keen to do anyway), a joint committee to review the UK’s banking sector, the delay of the implementation of an inheritance tax cut, and a whopping increase in capital gains tax…

In fact so much seems to have been conceded that there are already mutterings on the Conservative back benches about Cameron having sold the family silver. I suspect that there are two reasons that they ought to stay their complaints, at least for now. Firstly, it is notable though that not only have the Conservatives monopolised the Great Offices of State, they have control of all the big spending Departments (Health, Work and Pensions, Education and Defence) too. These are the spine of a Government and are the means through which Governments actually affect people’s everyday lives.

The second reason is that enacting a Party’s programme is only part of the business of government. Much of the rest is made up of ‘Events’ – how the Government reacts to a particular crisis or what actions it takes on an issue which at the moment looks unimportant but will, during the course of five years, assume great moment. For example, the last two years have been dominated by the question of regulation of the financial services sector – not a hot topic in any Party’s 2005 Manifesto. It is how the two parties manage to react to events that will determine whether their union prospers or withers. Politics is often, perhaps too often, about people not policies.

In respect of business and industrial affairs, we find the BIS Department helmed by Vince ‘The Prophet’ Cable. At the time of writing, Thursday evening, it was unclear who the junior Ministers, presumably Conservatives, with responsibility for manufacturing would be. Cable, a man on the left of his Party with a (distant) history in Labour, doesn’t enjoy a reputation as a particularly collegiate politician and there will inevitably be tensions with his more rightwing colleagues. These have already surfaced over the issue of banking reform where he is reported to have lost an early turf war with the Treasury. There was little sign of tension this morning though when the Prime Minister ‘dropped in’ on the Department to place on the record how important he believes it role is. You can see a clip of his brief speech to BIS staff here.

The Liberal Democrat’s manifesto was light on manufacturing, although we certainly welcomed its pledge to take a long term view on industry. The Conservative’s manifesto also had little to say about manufacturing although they did publish a very well received policy paper ‘Ingenious Britain’, authored by James Dyson, in the run up to the election. With the financial situation the Government has inherited, fulfilling the positive indications they have given may be a ‘big ask’. British Industry needs to keep on asking it though. If the economy is to grow then it will have to be industry that leads the way.

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