The temptation, I will confess, is just to say “see article of September 6^th”, as most of the points covered in that piece remain valid, including the exhortation to respect the basic principles of consultation and engagement in policy-making.

Dear Mr Sunak,

Well, here we go, your time has finally come. Congratulations are no doubt in order, not only have you achieved your long ambition, but you have done so quicker than anyone for a long time, at a younger age than anyone for two centuries, and it is momentous as an expression of how far we have come as a society that the son of immigrants can rise to the highest office in the land.

Much like your predecessor (indeed, arguably more so), you come to office at a very challenging time. The war in Ukraine rages, the energy and cost-of-living crises are escalating, and under all of that, the challenge of ensuring there’s still a planet to live on in the future rumbles quietly on. You have a lot to do, and it will be critical to get it right first time- it really cannot wait for repeated attempts any more.

Making sure that you do get these decisions right will require you to speak not only to friends, colleagues and ideological fellow-travellers, but to all those who will be affected, even those who might be diametrically opposed to your own views. In your speech in front of Number 10, less than an hour ago from the time of writing, you made some wonderfully aspirational statements about how your Government will operate. If you’ll indulge me, I’d just like to reflect on a few of them.

Taking it from the top, the first ones that drew my eye were those regarding the economic crisis and the aftermath of covid. If you’ll permit me to advise you on these, there is perhaps one feature that they both share, something very important that has gone unheeded for far too long. That feature is inequality. Neither of the two things you identify falls equally across society. Whilst all will be damaged by them, some will be far more damaged than others, and these ones tend to be the ones who have more difficulty making their voices heard- minorities and the abandoned. Whilst great strides have been made in tackling social inequality, in many cases this has been by passive drift, rather than concerted efforts to get out and ensure those voices are heard. If you are truly committed to governing in the interests of society, then you should take an active approach to tackling those inequalities.

A little later, in paying tribute to your predecessor, you say “some mistakes were made”. Whilst we’re sure we wouldn’t know which precise mistakes you might be talking about, you are right to bring it up as an issue. Mistakes are easier to avoid if you speak to people outside your group. Whilst we have no doubt you and your colleagues are intelligent, when groups only talk amongst themselves they not only fall into the same patterns, but can reinforce incorrect data, or invalid considerations. Particularly when those people share a common background, it can mean critical things get overlooked, which not only facilitates the making of mistakes, but can also entrench the inequality we previously discussed. “I believe this, and all my friends do too” is a much worse place to start from when making policy than “My friends and I believe this, but others have suggested different perspectives”.

A couple of lines after that you also discuss the importance of confidence, with particular reference to economic confidence. I actually want to discuss this one with a slightly broader context, that is public confidence in your Government. Your primary concern will no doubt be the rock bottom polls, but even on the broader sweep of things, public confidence in politics and politicians is incredibly low. People don’t feel heeded, they think their concerns are ignored or not taken seriously, and Westminster politics feels distant, and out of their control. All of this leads at best to apathy, and at worst, to resentment. Neither is good. If you want to overcome this, you need to show that you are listening- not just to the usual suspects, and not just to the discrete and uninformative polls, but to people. They might not always say what you want, but you should listen nonetheless. It’s the best path to try and restore public confidence in politics, and put the discordance of the last few years behind you. It really Is in the national interest- the restoration of the social pact between government and governed. Without action, the deterioration will continue.

Your speech then moves on to the future. You promise not to leave the next generation with debts that we could not pay. As a millennial I will largely hold my tongue on this one, save to say that many debts are already owed that your generation will never have to worry about, but ours will. If you are truly to govern with the next generation in mind, then you need to work out how you plan to do this. In Wales, and shortly in Scotland too, there are Future Generations Commissions set up to ensure that decision-making now takes account of the needs of the future. Similar bills have persistently failed in the Westminster Parliament, but even if you do not take this approach you should make sure that you find an approach that allows future generations to speak for themselves and doesn’t take a patronising “oh they won’t be able to drag themselves away from their avocado toast” route.

And then, we come to the manifesto. Over the last three years we’ve seen many attempts to implement bits of the manifesto. Some have succeeded, others have failed. One of the common features however has been a poor Government attitude towards consultation. The Elections Act was pushed through, with no consultation on its major provisions. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act gave the Home Secretary sweeping new powers over protest without any consultation. The Planning for the Future consultation has never been responded to. The proposed Bill of Rights Bill largely seemed to ignore the responses to the consultation on it. The imperial measurements consultation omitted any option to keep things as they are with no good cause. If you really want to restore public trust, a public recommitment to consultation would be a good start, and an effort to make sure it’s being done properly would be even better. Without it, you might struggle to deliver that manifesto, and the bits that you do get through will have a tougher time passing because of it.

Your peroration I want to quote directly, because it’s important, and it ties every point we’ve made together.

“So I stand before you ready to lead our country into the future.

To put your needs above politics.

To reach out and build a government that represents the very best tradition of my party.

Together we can achieve incredible things.

We will create a future worthy of the sacrifices so many have made and fill tomorrow, and everyday thereafter with hope”

True, strong leaders know that they don’t know everything, and are prepared to listen to alternate viewpoints to their own. It’s not a sign of weakness, but of appreciation of the need for constructive criticism. If you’re going to put peoples needs above politics, you need to find out what those needs are, not just tell people what their needs are. If you’re going to reach out, you need to be prepared to go to people. If you take a top-down approach, there’ll be no achieving things together. A future built on one ideological vision is one set for failure, not one worthy of sacrifices. If you want to make the future one of hope- then give people a reason to believe in hope, and not just condemn it as a futile dream.

All the best,

Stephen

P.S. Please last longer than a few weeks. I can’t keep writing these things.