Have You a Pledge or Mission?

salespodder -

UK political leaders of the two main parties have been busy stating their vision for a country under their rule in a voter-friendly format recently.

First up, incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with his '5 Pledges'.

Then a month on, the response of Opposition leader Kier Starmer who wants his job come next year's election with his '5 National Missions'.

The former approach has echoes of a previous regime's Pledge Card. Where a quarter-century ago Tony Blair's government made five promises for their first term. On which I blogged back in '07. [Summaries of today's quintets are at the footer below.]

Summaries of today's quintets are in the footer below. Where it might be prudent to note that of the ten policy aim commitments, only one has an observable number stated; all five of the Right's can be measured numerically, whilst it's harder to ascribe any data benchmark to all but two of the Left's counter. Including one evoking a potentially ludicrous competition with other comparable nations verging on the absurd.

Think of a bid you're on.

Can your list of promises 'deliver peace of mind' or introduce such 'mission-driven partnership'?

How truly measurable are they?

Do they all need to be purely quantitative?

Can you craft five?

What chance you can run them by a prospect-side fan?

Will they add weight to and firm up support for the overall stated headline aim of the project you propose?

Ruling Right of centre Conservatives current 5: 

  • We will halve inflation
  • We will grow the economy
  • We will make sure national debt is falling
  • NHS [the taxpayer-funded health system] waiting lists will fall
  • We will pass new laws to stop small boats
 Left of centre Labour’s response: 

  • Securing the highest sustained growth in the G7
  • Building an NHS "fit for the future"
  • Making Britain's streets safe by reforming the police and criminal justice system
  • Breaking down the "barriers to opportunity at every stage"
  • Making Britain a "clean energy superpower" with zero-carbon energy by 2030

& here's a screenshot from a 7th March presser, showing the PM's latest attempt to resolve one of his '5', succinctly bulleted;