Encountering the Cabinet getting out of Westminster

November 20, 2009 by
Filed under: Public policy 

On my way to Nottingham for a conference on emotional well being, I find myself sharing the train with half the Cabinet.  Given how London-centric most of the national media are, many people won’t know that one of Gordon Brown’s political innovations has been regularly to hold Cabinet meetings outside of London.

So, today, ministers are spending the morning visiting all kinds of projects around the East Midlands, before a public engagement event at lunchtime, followed by the Cabinet meeting in Nottingham in the afternoon.  Gordon Brown, for example, will be visiting a family intervention centre to reinforce Labour’s commitment to intervening with problem families.

According to the No 10 insider I was chatting to on the train, these cabinet visits go down a storm in the local and regional press and are seen as a genuine attempt to break out of Westminster and Whitehall and connect with the rest of Britain. For all of us who crave a more positive conversation between elected politicians and the public, this must be a good thing.

As I have written before, I hope an incoming Conservative government doesn’t assume that everything it inherits is bad (a mistake some Labour cabinet ministers made in 1997) – it would surely be a good thing if these regional cabinets continued.

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9 Comments on Encountering the Cabinet getting out of Westminster

  1. Livy on Fri, 20th Nov 2009 11:34 am

    2. @Matthew: “I hope an incoming Conservative government …”

    Despite the fact that mainstream media are in the tank for Cameron it really isn’t helpful to capitulate to these all these assumptions about a guaranteed Tory victory. For all sorts of reasons its far from clear cut, but for people who think it is and constantly base their opinions on nothing other than opinion polls (designed for the media with absurdly small sample sizes) then the latest Populus Poll (Times) makes for interesting reading. A 10 point lead might give Call Me Dave a majority of 2 seats…and all it took was a world economic depression, and one of the biggest exposures of political corruption by the press in British history. Nice.

  2. Graham Jeffery on Fri, 20th Nov 2009 12:07 pm

    3. Yes, I agree with Livy. Don’t take the (london-centric/westminster-village-y) media consensus for granted – electorates and elections are unpredictable. A hung parliament could be an excellent outcome. Agree wholeheartedly with the rest of your post though – good that the Cabinet gets out and about. I wonder what would happen if they decided to hold one up here in Scotland though?!

  3. Livy on Fri, 20th Nov 2009 12:14 pm

    4. Sorry, yes Matthew – I also agree with the rest of your post, absolutely, good stuff.

    I just find it disheartening when Labour people say things like that, makes them look like they’ve lost the will to live.

    Graham, yeah… I mean.. Its conceivable that Cameron gets the votes and Brown gets the seats. Lets not forget they need a 7 point swing, or an 11% lead over Labour in the national vote. Its funny but most Tory victories since 1900 have been against a dying coalition, or a Labour government which had lost its majority, or never held one.

  4. Susmita on Fri, 20th Nov 2009 4:51 pm

    5. Dare I ask if this was a taxpayer-funded conference on wellbeing – please say no, it would do wonders for mine…..

  5. phil h on Sat, 21st Nov 2009 12:19 am

    6. Take it you were all in second class ;-)

  6. Matthew Kalman on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 3:28 pm

    7. Hi Matthew,

    The membership organisation I work for decided to move its big meetings around the UK – though the recession quickly put paid to that, as it was quite an expensive way to do things. (And London’s probably easier to get to for most people, on average? Or is that just a self-serving rationalisation…).

    By the way, longing to hear something about what’s been emerging from the RSA’s ‘Future of Membership Organisations’ project…!

    Or will we need to wait until it wraps up for that? (I couldn’t persuade my org to join the fun).

    Cheers,

    Matthew

  7. matthewtaylor on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 5:01 pm

    8. Katherine Hudson at NCVO can give you a heads up – it’s going well I think.

  8. matthewtaylor on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 5:02 pm

    9. of course

  9. matthewtaylor on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 5:04 pm

    10. ESRC funded. I can hear the steam coming out of your ears from two floors away

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