In this chapter, Robert Pinker reflects on the implications of the largely unexpected outcome to the 2015 general election in the UK that termined the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition and saw the return of single party government by Conservatives for the first time since 1992. He first considers the social policy proposals set out in the Conservative and Labour Party 2015 election manifestos before discussing how the government clarified its post-election policy intentions in three keynote speeches as it prepared the ground for the Chancellor's presentation of his July Budget. He then analyses the Chancellor's position on tax credits, Labour's response to his budget proposals, the concurrent progress of its leadership election campaign and its eventual outcome. Pinker concludes with an assessment of the ways in which these events, and their ideological ramifications, might affect the prospects for health and social care in the UK over the next five years.
Analysis of Social Policy Commitments in the Election Manifestos of the Justice and Development Party: 2002 – 2015
