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British Politics Review 03 2010.Indd British Politics Review Journal of the British Politics Society, Norway Volume 5 | No. 3 | Summer 2010 The coalition Backdrop and consequences CONTRIBUTORS Stewart Hosie • Jan Tore Sanner • Trine Skei Grande • Duncan Brack Adam Schoenborn • Adrian Ramsay • Øivind Bratberg • Atle Wold British Politics Review Editorial Volume 5 | No. 3 | Summer 2010 A political drama with substantial effects ISSN 1890-4505 Little more than three months have passed since this year’s General Election, an British Politics Review is a quarterly election which, beyond the drama of those few days in May, is likely to have a newsletter issued by the British Politics deep political impact on Britain. Society, Norway. With contributions from academic and journalistic sour- The election campaign was affected by excitement due to the expected end of an ces, the British Politics Review is aimed era. The decreasing popularity of the Labour government and its leader Gordon at everyone with a general interest in Brown was met by the vigour of his main Prime Ministerial contender, David political developments in Britain. Cameron. In addition, helped by his appearance in the fi rst-ever televised debates between the three main party leaders, Nick Clegg added additional fervour to British Politics Society, Norway is the campaign, achieving a breakthrough for the Liberal Democrats in the press, politically neutral and has no col- in opinion polls and in the general political consciousness of the electorate. lective agenda apart from raising the interest and knowledge of British Consequently, Election Day itself and the days that followed became even more politics among the informed Norwe- of a thriller than most analysts had expected. Once the election result was made public, it was clear that Britain for the fi rst time since 1974 was faced with the gian public. precarious situation of a hung Parliament. Days of speculation, negotiation and uncertainty followed. For a few days, Gordon Brown and the Labour Party Editorial team had a small, if not too realistic, hope of clinging to power. However, when it Øivind Bratberg [Editor] became clear that the negotiations between the Conservatives and the Liberal Kristin M. Haugevik [Associate Editor] Democrats were in fact progressing, Brown stepped down following a moving Atle L. Wold [Scholarly Responsible] resignation speech outside Downing Street. The speech represented the de facto John-Ivar S. Olsen [Secretary] end of Labour’s unprecedented thirteen year period in power. Postal address The new British government is atypical. Not only are coalition governments in P.O. Box 6 Blindern themselves a rare phenomenon in British politics, but Britain now has a coalition N-0313 Oslo, Norway government between two parties - the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – that were seen to be incompatible according to the perceived progressive Email kinship between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. And, of course, the new [email protected] occupant of 10 Downing Street is historic too: at the age of 43, David Cameron is the youngest Prime Minister to have held the post since the Earl of Liverpool Website resigned in 1827. www.britishpoliticssociety.no Despite the initial warnings from many quarters, the coalition government Print survives after three months in power, having delineated its plans for the public Reprosentralen, Oslo, Norway sector (notably through the crisis budget) as well as for constitutional reforms. The Liberal Democrats had reform of the electoral system as a key priority in the Cover photo election campaign, and so far reform seems to be a price the Conservatives are Prime Minister David Cameron and willing to pay for being in offi ce. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg At the time of writing, it still remains to be seen whether the government’s approach their joint press conference imprint on the British political landscape will be a lasting one and, indeed, in the garden of Downing Street, 12 whether it will be able to honour its pledge of serving the full fi ve-year term till May 2010. 2015. In the meantime, this issue of British Politics Review offers a broad range of Crown copyright / The Prime Minister’s Offi ce [Pub- lished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommer- perspectives on the coalition. cial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic Licence]. Øivind Bratberg & Kristin M. Haugevik, Editors Manuscripts Within a relatively broad framework, British Politics Review welcomes arti- Contents Renewal of British politics: the Scottish cles on British politics and society, perspective preferably related to the thematic Cameron: no accidental reformer Stewart Hosie p. 8 area set for each issue (announced in Jan Tore Sanner p. 3 the previous issue and on our web- Beyond localism: rethinking the way A historic achievement Britain is governed site). Please contact the editors at Trine Skei Grande p. 4 Adam Schoenborn p. 9 [email protected] A win for the Green Party and the politics Parliamentary reform: the coalition’s of hope challenge Subscriptions Adrian Ramsay p. 5 Øivind Bratberg p. 10 100 NOK pr year Please contact us at mail@britishpoli- Liberal Democrats enter government: no Coalition: Cameron’s stroke of genius? more realignment of the left? Atle L. Wold p. 11 ticssociety.no or visit our website. Duncan Brack pp. 6-7 The political map of Britain 2010 p. 12 2 British Politics Review Volume 5 | No. 3 | Summer 2010 Cameron: no accidental reformer By Jan Tore Sanner, Høyre (the Conservative Party of Norway) Jan Tore San- use of new technology to reach younger the only major point of contention is the voters, and a focus on David Cameron’s respective positions on Europe and the ner is deputy person helped rebrand the party. EU. The decision to leave the European leader of Høyre. Personal traits are clearly visible his style People’s Party group in European A member of of political leadership. He has been very institutions, an early pledge made to the Storting open with respect to his personal history, the strong Euro-sceptic wing of the since 1993, he and on how his experiences as a father party, weakened both the EPP and the has since 2001 and the death of his son have shaped him Tories’ potential for infl uence in Europe. played a central both as a person and as a politician. Hopefully, this can be rectifi ed. part in the Both the reformed policies and the Translating Cameron’s ambitions into standing com- modern image were already real reforms is now the mittee on fi nance and economic evident during Cameron’s ”[T]he Tories’ responsibility of his new affairs. In the present Storting he visit to Norway in 2006. Six modernisation coalition government. So is second vice chair of the commit- months into his leadership and reorientation far, signs are good. The tee and deputy leader of Høyre’s he went to Svalbard to under Cameron formal coalition agenda parliamentary party. study climate change fi rst contains many of the best hand. In Oslo he met with has brought them policies from both the Tories politicians from Høyre and closer to their and the Liberal Democrats. ”Britain’s accidental revolution” read held a speech on the issue. European, and Inter-party cooperation the cover title of the fi rst issue of The The message was clear: especially their seems to be going well, as Economist after the British general “Vote Blue, Go Green”. This Scandinavian sister do personal relations in the election in May this year. Though the has been a key theme for the parties.” Cabinet. The emergency fi rst coalition government in the UK in party ever since. budget of 22 June shows a 65 years may have been accidental, that clear commitment to make is certainly not true for David Cameron’s Observers have commented that the some very tough choices. drive to reform – fi rst his party, then Tories’ modernisation and reorientation British politics itself. After the 6 May under Cameron has brought them closer However, serious challenges remain. elections he emerged as the youngest to their European, and especially their The economic situation is critical, with Prime Minister in 200 years. Scandinavian sister parties. In many Britain being one of the most indebted ways this is true. Though cooperation countries in Europe after 13 years of After losing three general elections in a between the Conservatives and Høyre Labour rule. The government’s promise row, and after a 2005 campaign that left historically has been close, Cameron’s to cut the defi cit in fi ve years will have a the party exhausted, deeply divided and reformed party is in many ways much huge impact and potentially create great with an image truly living up to its old more similar to the modern conservative tension both within the government and reputation as ”the nasty party”, reform parties of Scandinavia than some earlier with the public. It is in many ways a huge was sorely needed. Cameron won the incarnations. Inspiration from Fredrik gamble. During a parliamentary group leadership race soundly by promising Reinfeldt’s Swedish Moderaterna seems visit to London last year, I discussed the revitalisation and transformation – to to have been especially strong, and the fi nancial crisis at length with George give the party a different look and trajectories of their respective leaderships Osborn, then shadow Chancellor, now sound and to increase its appeal beyond and party reforms have run almost in one of the key members of the cabinet. traditional Tory supporters, especially parallel. He was very clear in his views on the among young, urban and northern way out of the crisis, and has in many voters. The years that have passed since On key policies, the cooperation and ways delivered a “cure or kill” budget.
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