Inside Story: How the Coalition Really Works
| DOI | 10.1111/j.2041-9066.2011.00063.x |
| Author | Robert Hazell |
| Published date | 01 September 2011 |
| Date | 01 September 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Feature |
in Cabinet, and 19% of other front-bench
positions, while their proportionate share
of coalition MPs was 16%. But by going
for breadth over depth, seeking to place a
Lib Dem minister in almost every Whitehall
department, the Lib Dems may have spread
themselves too thinly. Their objective was
to influence every aspect of government
policy. They may have achieved this, but it
is very difficult to demonstrate to the public.
The problem of distinctiveness, especially
for the junior coalition partner, is a constant
theme of life in the coalition.
Coalition at the Centre in Whitehall
The first year of the new government was
remarkably successful in terms of how
coalition relations were managed. Both
parties worked hard to ensure the success
of the coalition, especially at the centre.
David Cameron and Nick Clegg set the
tone for those around them. They and their
advisers quickly built up high levels of trust
and close working relationships, in marked
contrast to the distrust and infighting that
disfigured the Blair/Brown years.
The coalition had expected to make use
of the formal cabinet machinery to discuss
coalition issues and resolve disputes (see
Figure 1). Cabinet and its committees have
been greatly revived, with strong Lib Dem
representation on every committee. But
most of the differences resolved in cabinet
committees are interdepartmental issues,
not differences between the coalition parties.
Two committees were created specifi-
cally to manage coalition issues. The first
is the Coalition Committee, intended to be
the final arbiter of any coalition dispute.
Co-chaired by the Prime Minister and
the Deputy Prime Minister, it has equal
Inside Story: How the
Coalition Really Works
The Constitution Unit at University Col-
lege London’s latest project examines
how the UK’s new coalition govern-
ment functions in practice. With the sup-
port of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime
Minister and the Cabinet Secretary, we
have interviewed over 100 ministers, their
advisers, civil servants, and parliamentar-
ians to find out how coalition government
works from the inside.
In looking at the coalition formed last
year, we address four main questions:
• Who won the coalition negotiations?
• How does the coalition work at the centre
of Whitehall?
• How does the coalition work in Whitehall
departments?
• How can the two parties in coalition
demonstrate their distinct identities?
Winner and Losers
Coalition negotiations are about the
division of office and of policy. During five
days in May 2010 Conservative and Lib
Dem negotiators focused first on policy.
Only when the coalition agreement was
concluded did David Cameron and Nick
Clegg discuss the division of jobs.
In terms of policy, the Lib Dems did very
well. Constitution Unit analysis has shown
that 75% of the Lib Dems’ manifesto com-
mitments found their way into the Pro-
gramme for Government, compared with
only 60% of the Conservative manifesto. A
separate analysis conducted by academics
at Essex, using a left–right ideological scale,
similarly concluded that the Lib Dems had
done better than the Conservatives.
The Lib Dems also did well in the division
of ministerial posts, gaining 22% of seats
Behind Downing Street’s closed doors, how does the Con–Lib coalition actually work? Are the Liberal Democrats
losing the policy battle? Or can they reassert their own identity? Robert Hazell reports on a fascinating new
study that lifts the lid on life inside the coalition.
representation from both parties. In prac-
tice the Coalition Committee has met only
twice, early on, to establish ground rules
about coalition management. It has not met
since because there have been no formal
coalition disputes. Coalition issues are
resolved in informal meetings, not cabinet
or its committees.
The second coalition committee is the
smaller Coalition Operations and Strate-
gic Planning Group (COSPG) chaired by
Oliver Letwin and Danny Alexander. This
was intended to be the engine room of the
coalition, meeting weekly. But it too has
hardly met. Letwin and Alexander’s infor-
mal bilateral meetings have supplanted the
need for meetings of COSPG.
Informal Machinery, Informal Forums
In practice, almost all coalition brokerage
takes place outside formal machinery (see
Figure 1). Any coalition issues should have
been spotted well before they reach Cabinet
Committee level. Our interviews show that
coalition issues are resolved in half a dozen
different forums, which are, in order of
importance:
• Prime Minister/Deputy Prime Minis-
ter bilaterals. This is where all the big
coalition issues get decided. The meetings
take place once a week, on Monday morn-
ings, with a preparatory chiefs of staff
meeting on Thursday or Friday. Cabinet
colleagues and officials can ask for items
to go on the agenda to be resolved at this
level.
• The Quad. The Quad of David Cameron,
Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny
Alexander is the main forum for resolving
any coalition issues that have spending
implications. It first came into being for
the comprehensive spending review, in
4Political Insight
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