Making coalition government work

The UK has its first coalition government for sixty five years. This shift to multi-party government will pose a number of challenges to the civil service and others involved in a system of government built around expectations of single-party rule.

Given the limited experience in Whitehall and Westminster of working with coalitions, the Institute for Government is organising a series of events to draw lessons from countries with a recent history of coalition government.

The first in this series of events took place on 21 May and focused on the 'inside view' of coalitions, with current or former senior officials from Ireland, Holland, Scotland and Wales discussing the challenges of coalition government and the role of the civil service in making a success of this.

Speakers

• Julie O’Neill  (former head of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in Ireland)
• Stan Kaatee (advisor to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands)
• Sir Jon Shortridge (former Permanent Secretary at the Welsh Assembly Government)
• Ken Thomson (former Principal Private Secretary to the late Scottish First Minister Donald Dewar and closely involved in the Labour-Lib Dem coalition negotiations of 1999)

Findings

The panel found much to agree over:

• the importance both of relationships, and the need for the larger party to respect the rights of the smaller partner – and allow them some victories in making coalitions last.
• the civil service's key role as mediator and as guardian of the interests of the government as a whole, and to avoid disputes and surprises which can de-rail a coalition.
• special advisers have a vital role in oiling the machine. Good processes are needed to underpin the day to day working of coalition – from preparation of Cabinet papers, to getting copylists right, ensuring government can the two axes of interest of department and party, to making sure every decision is recorded accurately.
• extra time needs to be built in to go through processes, with greater capacity needed at both the centre of government and departments to cope. In the words of one speaker, "This is NOT business as usual".

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