Overview: A Wilderness Year

2004 has been an uneventful year in British politics. A general election was anticipated in 2005 but with little sense of anticipation amongst the major parties. A Labour victory was assumed, mainly for lack of a credible alternative. Public trust in the government has fallen to new depths. The Hutton Report exonerated the government and the Butler Report refused to blame anyone: both were greeted with cries of ‘whitewash’; both painted a disturbing picture of the way Tony Blair ran the government. When accusations were made against David Blunkett, Tony Blair declared that his Home Secretary would be exonerated, but he was not. Nonetheless, Michael Howard has failed to improve Conservative fortunes and the challenge from UKIP forces his party to fight on at least two fronts. The Liberal Democrats may yet ‘break the two-party mould’: if they do, it will be by default; Charles Kennedy has not fashioned a party with distinctive policies. Labour has avoided defeats in the Commons, though not without concessions. Management of the economy has been a success, for which Gordon Brown must take much credit, but his future within the party is in doubt. Britain enters 2005 with a Prime Minister who says he wants to serve a ‘full third term’ but no more, leaving the prospect of a continuing leadership contest in the next Parliament.