LMU1st_13 17/09/2013 12:14 Page 169
How to avoid the Hollande headache
Establish a transition team to prepare for delivery before the election
Once the policies have been chosen, there is a lot to do in order to get the programmes ‘shovel ready’ so they can be kicked off immediately after the election. Four years passes very quickly in the context of large programmes, and it is a common mistake to waste vital months in establishing momentum. Thus our recommendation is to pull together a transition team, similar in nature to those created by both parties during the US Presidential elections.
The purpose of the transition team is to plan for the implementation of each manifesto pledge, and put in place the organisation and stakeholder structure to get the programme moving fast from day one.
The team needs to bring together a mix of the skills needed to manage politically sensitive programmes. Within the Westminster bubble there are two models of political adviser: policy wonk and spinner. To this there needs to be a third added: programme manager. As with wonks and spinners, the programme manager needs to have acute political antennae and a commitment to the party. But unlike much of the rest of the Westminster village, they must understand how big programmes work and what it takes to deliver successfully.
Within the transition team, a political programme manager should be assigned to each key manifesto pledge and be tasked with working through the detail of a delivery plan for the commitment, before the election. The plans will be brought together under the aegis of the transition team director, who reports directly to the leader, and help define the requirements for delivery that need to 169