Playing for Keeps

So will it work? I’m more optimistic than Fraser and, unlike him, think that this really could, for reasons I’ll get to in a minute, be a “new era”. Of course, Fraser is not alone in questioning the long-term viability of the coalition. The excellent Steve Richards also thinks it cannae last. The sceptics may yet be proved right.

Nevertheless, it strikes me that viewing this government as an awkward marriage of convenience between a left-wing party and a right-wing party is a mistaken or less than wholly useful approach. Is opposing ID cards a left-wing or right-wing position? Is the localism agenda owned by the right or by the left? Is placing a greater emphasis on the environment and conservation a left-wing or a right-wing issue (especially for younger voters)? For many – and perhaps an increasing number – these labels don’t carry much meaning.

Naturally there will be policy differences.