After several weeks of campaigning, here are my reflections so far (summed up in the accompanying video).
First, unless I’m very much mistaken, this is going to be a change election. The desire to throw out the “current lot” seems almost universal and very passionately expressed. Old hands may well say that it sounds like that at every election, but it never quite happens. Maybe they’re right, but I can only report what I’m hearing.
Second, the next Assembly is going to have a huge responsibility to restore trust in the body politic. The level of cynicism and disillusion means that any even vaguely controversial government initiative is going to be met with indifference at best and hostility at worst.
Third, rebuilding trust requires patience and stamina – it’s a long slog. It has to be built into every aspect of government business and government communication. No anodyne press releases. Politicians need to be out meeting people, communicating via every means possible, and not hiding from difficult questions.
Jonathan Renouf 