TEc "Things could only get better" Labour's message of hope in 1997, an evaluation of 13 years

A fair-minded assessment of Labour's track-record in government during the combined 13 years of its tenure.

10 under Tony Blair and 3 with Gordon Brown at the helm.

I would say that not a word is misplaced or a sentence incomplete to accurately portray Labour's achievements and failures exercising power across all domains during this period.
Underpinning every wishful thought on broad ranging public policy is the realisation that delivery is so often far more complex than goodwill and commitment.
This is a basic teaching in Political Science no doubt.

That said, a as-much-as-possible balanced evaluation is inevitable when an election comes due.
Indeed after winning three consecutive terms no party - even under the best of circumstances - can expect to push on unscathed.
The Tories did manage 18 years but theirs, as is always the case, was a different political, social and economic setting.
Eventually Conservative rule came to an end through a crushing and painful electoral defeat.

The pollsters indicate no such landslide in the reverse is expected on May 6th.
This owes much to the rising star of British politics, Nick Clegg no less.He has challenged and outsmarted the 'established establishment' and may just succeed introducing a power-sharing third force to the UK government.
Contradictory as it may seem the LibDem's appeal is a reflection of Labour's Third Way's own failures nearly as much as its successes.The latter are impressive by any measure but left too huge a bill for future governments to pick up.
A bill that was added up over the years from 2003 only to balloon dangerously in the past two.