Introduction

Abstract

The period of time covering the New Labour governments of 1997–2010 was an incredibly interesting one for those concerned with issues of governance. The concept of partnership became an important mantra, one which was central to many different policy areas and aspects of civic life as New Labour set out a plan to modernise the UK and to fundamentally transform many aspects of local and national governance. This was a time of immense optimism. New Labour were elected into government by a huge margin. There was a high degree of enthusiasm for this government and a sense that they would truly make a difference in terms of the effectiveness of government and the quality of UK public services. The New Labour governments also made considerable effort to involve academics and others into its policy development and evaluation work. This was far greater than what Britain had experienced under any other governments. As Tony Blair’s ‘big tent’ was populated by a range of researchers, consultancies and academics, it certainly felt that there was a very different mood around national government and policy development.