Preparing for Government

The General Election counter shows less than 200 days to the election. The polls are largely in our favour with a good prospect of a Conservative victory and so many people are considering the process of handover between Governments. In the past 30 years there has only been one such handover which took place in 1997 after the Labour victory that year. Prior to that the last change from Labour to Conservative was in 1979 so there isn't a great deal of experience in the process. A further complication is that a new Prime Minister takes office the day the election result is announced which contrasts with the position in the US where a new President has a two month handover. Much of the process and preparation is covered in a report by The Institute of Government "Transitions: Preparing for Changes of Government" which is available here.