Here are letters G to M in our alphabetical guide to the Coalition’s first year. A-F were covered here.
G is for Gaffes
The coalition, happily, has not endured anything like a Gillian Duffy moment. But there has been a decent smattering of embarrassments and gaffes. Below is a brief selection, but CoffeeHousers can nominate others in the comments section:
H is for Hidden talents
A brief mention for those ministers who have exceeded expectations, or who have been quietly effective in their roles. Foremost among them has to be Theresa May, the Home Secretary. She underwhelmed in Opposition, particularly when in charge of the Tories’ welfare brief, but has taken to government assuredly — a fact underlined by her steadily rising stock in ConservativeHome’s Cabinet rankings. And then there’s Danny Alexander, who was thrust mercilessly into the breach after the resignation of David Laws — and has held up rather well ever since. Other ministers who perhaps don’t have the profile that their impressive efforts deserve include Nick Herbert and Grant Shapps.
I is for IDS
Of all the personal stories in the coalition, Iain Duncan Smith’s is surely among the most affecting. When he stepped down as Tory leader in 2003, derided and lambasted on all sides, he could barely have dreamed of what was to come: a meeting with deprived Glaswegians that inspired him to “put their problems front and centre stage of British politics”; the establishment of the Centre for Social Justice, one of Westminster’s most influential think-tanks; his surprise inclusion in the coalition government as Welfare Minister; and, then, an emotional ovation at last year’s Tory party conference. The work continues, but the rehabilitation of the man is complete — one of the most stunning turnarounds in modern British politics.
What’s more, IDS’s task is, behind deficit reduction, probably the most important this coalition will undertake. We have delved into his specific reforms before now, so suffice to say that they promise to end one of the most pernicious flaws of the welfare state: a benefits system that incentivises worklessness. For decades now, and for millions of claimants, the benefits system has incubated the very poverty and unemployment it was intended to stop. Making welfare a pathway to work again, as Beveridge intended, will be one of this government’s — and IDS’s — defining achievements.
J is for Jumping (before you’re pushed)
One year, two major resignations — at least so far as the coalition is concerned. First, David Laws; then, Andy Coulson. The latter has ridden into the sunset of Public Relations Land. The former, of course, remains prominent in Westminster, his future somewhat unresolved. Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg are eager to bring their former Chief Secretary to the Treasury back into government. But there are several impediments standing against them, not least the suspension that was handed down to Laws today. And there is also the balance of the coalition to be considered. Now that the AV referendum has aggravated some of the Cabinet’s delicate schisms, there are some who would not welcome a return for the Tories’ favourite Lib Dem.
K is for Kettling
Little surprise that is has been a year of protest. A Tory Chancellor cutting public spending; Lib Dems breaking their promises to students; disenchantment with politicians in general — this is a recipe for uproar, with the militant left doing a good amount of the stirring. The result has been, at turns, laughable, chaotic and brutal, and it has left us with some indelible images:
L is for Labour
There’s no doubt that the coalition enjoyed an extended honeymoon thanks to Labour’s post-election malaise. Harriet Harman may have been an able stand-in after Brown’s departure, but without an official leader or direction, the Opposition was struggling to perform its primary task (of, erm, opposition) with any degree of coherence. You might have expected that to end with the election of a new figurehead. But, sadly for Labour, that new figurehead was Ed Miliband. Although MiliE has pushed forward in some areas — focusing, wisely, on the squeeze in living standards, and maintaining his party’s lead in the polls — the overall impression has been one of delay and uncertainty. We have heard Miliband rattle on about the cuts, but we still have no sense of what he would do instead.
Miliband’s problems were brought into sharp focus by last week’s elections. The gains that his party made, in England and Wales, were overshadowed by the heavy losses in Scotland and the AV referendum. It was not a performance to reassure those sceptical of his leadership. Against a weight of poll data — highlighted by PoliticsHome’s Mark Gettleson here — suggesting that Miliband is not quite catching on with the public, you wonder whether Labour might start thinking of alternatives.
M is for Muscular Liberalism
Mischievous Nick Clegg. Before this morning, “muscular liberalism” referred only to one thing: David Cameron’s recent speech in defence of Western liberties. As the Prime Minister put it at the time, referring to Islamic extremism, “we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism.” But now Clegg has hijacked the phrase, and dressed it with a new meaning. “You will see a strong liberal identity in a strong coalition government,” he emphasised earlier, “You might even call it muscular liberalism.” No longer is this about Western values, but about specifically Lib Dem ones instead.
This may seem like a rhetorical in-joke between the two coalition partners — but it is something more than that. Many Lib Dems shuddered at Cameron’s speech in February, wary not only of his warnings about “state multiculturalism,” but also that the word “liberal” was being attached to them. If there was one open area of divide between the coalition partners before last week, it was around issues such as immigration and integration. Clegg has just made that divide even more pronounced.
Click here for part 3.
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