A year in review: The Institute for Government’s 2024

In some ways it felt like the drama was dialled down for British politics in 2024. There were no mass-ministerial resignations or late-night parliamentary showdowns, no rule-breaking No.10 gatherings or economy-shaking mini budgets. And yet the last 12 months brought the UK a general election – held at a time that a few predicted – and which resulted in change of ruling party for the first time in 14 years. 

January

The latest that Rishi Sunak could have held that general election would have been January 2025 – just imagine your Christmas dinner having been interrupted by manifestos and campaign slogans! But our warning last January that time was running out for the then prime minister to authorise access talks – allowing the civil service to begin discussion with opposition parties – proved prescient when the election landed just six months later. Our Preparing for Power report was accompanied by a brilliant six part podcast series, with key figures from elections past – including Ed Balls, Harriet Harman, Gus O’Donnell and Oliver Letwin – revealing their experiences of going into government. 

February

With the party holding a consistent double digit poll lead, Labour’s plans for power were now facing increasingly intense scrutiny. In February, Keir Starmer ditched the party’s promise to invest £28bn a year in green power. The pledge, we argued, had become a distraction – and we called for Labour to instead convince on the deliverability of its energy plans.

The issue of standards in public life also remained front and centre of Labour’s campaign, and an IfG report – featuring new polling from Ipsos-Mori – set out how the next government could learn from the mistakes of recent administrations and take the steps needed to show that it could restore trust. Headlines later in the year over ‘freebiegate’ and public appointments were unfortunate given the opportunity for a new government to reset public opinion.

March

March marked the launch of the IfG’s most important report of the year. Power with Purpose, the final report of our Commission on the Centre of Government, was the result of a year of evidence gathering and interviews with figures ranging from former prime ministers to leading scientists, senior civil servants in the UK and overseas, and leaders in local government, the private sector and charities. Two former prime ministers, Sir John Major and Gordon Brown, spoke at the launch of the report, which concluded that No.10, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury are not set up to meet the challenges facing the United Kingdom in the 2020s and beyond. 

April

By April, it was clear that Rishi Sunak’s government was running out of steam, with 63 Conservative MPs and a number of ministers having announced that they would not be standing for re-election. However, the PM had – finally – seen his flagship Rwanda asylum plan through both Houses of Parliament and, while battles with the court seemed inevitable, the bill’s arrival on the statute book may have helped harden Sunak’s resolve about when the general election should be held.

May

May’s local elections should perhaps have served as a warning to Sunak. Our brilliant devolution team analysed the results which included all but one Conservative mayor being voted out, while Labour firmly established itself as the largest party of local government. As general election speculation went into overdrive, a new IfG report warned that polling day was now certain to be held closer to the point at which government departments’ budgets expired than at any time in over 40 years. We were pleased that Lucy Powell, the then shadow leader of the Commons, gave a keynote speech at the IfG setting out how a Labour government would approach parliament, the legislative process and the role of MPs, which reflected many of our past recommendations. 

Then, catching nearly everyone by surprise, Rishi Sunak took to the steps of No.10 and, in the pouring rain, called a general election. The country felt ready for this moment and, as I argued, expectations were high for whoever would form the next government.

June

With the general election campaign in full swing, our June report – the Precarious State of the State – set out the true scale and severity of the problems facing the next government. However, to the frustration of many, including the IfG, both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer continually undermined their credibility on public service performance by ruling out any rax rises after the election – a theme we returned to in two IfG webinars that explored the Conservative and Labour manifestos. 

During the campaign the IfG also published a collection of “How to…” guides for new ministers, private offices, Lords ministers and policy makers, including one on – How to use targets – that looks ever more valuable, while a series of new explainers gave readers everything they needed to know about the dissolution of parliament, civil service activity during an election campaign, and the timetable that follows the calling of a general election. 

July

On 4 July the country went to the polls – and Labour was returned to power with a huge majority of 156. Our podcast, Inside Briefing, recorded a special live episode on the morning after the results were confirmed. We were encouraged by Keir Starmer’s decision to give key government positions to people who had spent time shadowing their new ministerial roles in opposition, but the prime minister and his team were soon facing some difficult decisions – not least an anticipated crisis in prisons. Our new paper, published on the eve of the election, set out how the government could approach fixing the problem. Other challenges loomed, with a trio of new IfG reports warning that the government’s public services inheritance made its spending plans untenable, setting out how chancellor Rachel Reeves could improve the framework for fiscal policy making, and putting forward 20 ways to improve the civil service. 

The King’s Speech set out 40 bills – our explainer analysed the highest number of bills to appear in a speech from the throne since 2005, and the second highest since 1997 – and at the end of the month our webinar analysed the chancellor’s statement on the government’s fiscal inheritance, and what it meant for its tax and spending plans. We also dropped another must-listen podcast series – Spadcast’s four episodes reveal what it is really like to do some of the most demanding jobs in government. 

August

The horrific attacks in Southport shocked the country at the start of August, with the unrest that followed presenting the prime minister with his first real test of leadership. The riots also exposed Labour’s difficult inheritance across the criminal justice system, which made the prime minister’s pledge of swift, sharp justice much harder to deliver. The government then found itself under pressure following a series of unforced errors over civil service appointments – a reminder of the importance of transparency in maintaining confidence in impartiality. 

September

September did not bring an easier ride for the government, with a row over freebies and donors – and growing tensions about Sue Gray’s role as Starmer’s chief of staff and dysfunction at the centre of government – overshadowing the Labour party conference. 

The IfG team was out in force at the Labour gathering and the Liberal Democrat and Conservative party conferences, where we put on a record number of fringe events. With the new government promising to devolve more power away from Westminster, our new report set out how the government can extend devolution to the whole of England. September also saw the launch of the IfG’s brilliant Ministers Database, our interactive guide to half a century of British ministerial office-holders.

October

Sue Gray left the government at the start of October, but we warned that the shake-up at the centre – with Morgan McSweeney appointed as the PM’s new chief-of-staff – would not be a quick fix for Starmer’s problems. In another big change at the heart of government it was also confirmed that Simon Case would stand down as cabinet secretary – our new report set out the five big challenges awaiting his (at that point unappointed) successor. 

30 October saw the first female chancellor unveil her first budget as chancellor, with our public finances team providing essential analysis of a budget characterised by record tax hikes, substantially increased borrowing and a generous envelope for public services. The budget also saw Rachel Reeves introduce many changes to the fiscal rules and framework that had been recommended by the IfG. 

November

Reeves’ budget and short-term spending review dominated November. A new IfG report – in which we warned of austerity postponed – analysed the impact of the government’s decisions on public services, with our one-day public services conference – featuring Michael Gove, James Timpson, David Gauke and Nicky Morgan – exploring what could be done to turn performance around. It wasn’t just public services in the spotlight after the budget: the government’s fall-out with the farmers saw Labour rediscover its rural problems. 

November also saw Keir Starmer publish his long-awaited rewrite of the Ministerial Code – an overdue but an important step to establish his expectations of ministers – and the government wrestle with controversy over legislation to introduce assisted dying, a row which exposed the shortcomings of private members' bills more generally. While the government was inevitably dominating the headlines, but Kemi Badenoch was crowned as the new leader of the Conservative party and formed her first shadow cabinet.

December

A busy December for the government began with the announcement that Sir Chris Wormald was Keir Starmer’s pick to become the new cabinet secretary. One of the country’s most experienced civil servants will need to show a willingness to do things differently if Whitehall is to make a success of mission-led government. The publication of the government’s Plan for Change quickly followed. It provided much-needed clarity around the government’s priorities, but its shift towards targets raised questions about the government's mission-led approach. Following Starmer’s Plan for Change came a plea for change from Pat McFadden, with the minister for the Cabinet Office setting out his vision for civil service reform – and calling for disruptors to join the Whitehall machine. We also published another series of “How to…” guides, this time giving the essential lowdown on being a special adviser. The year ended with the government publishing its long-awaited white paper on devolution – a set of proposals which, again, echoed many recommendations put forward by the IfG.

There exists an alternative timeline where Rishi Sunak held on to power for the last minute, waiting until late January to hold that general election. Instead, we are approaching nearly six months since Labour regained power. The cast of British politics has changed dramatically in that time and, if Keir Starmer’s plans to “rewire the British state” become a reality, so will the way that UK government functions. The Institute for Government will be watching closely, calling out what doesn’t work, highlighting successes – and setting out what we think needs to be done to make government work better for everyone.