Westminster Insider

What's the point of a manifesto?

As Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer prepare to launch their manifestos, host Sascha O’Sullivan takes a look at what goes into the making of the crucial documents that spell out each party’s plan for government.

Former Tory adviser Cleo Watson recalls how it all went wrong for Theresa May at the 2017 election when a manifesto pledge on social care blew up.

Authors of the 2019 manifesto Rachel Wolf and Rob Colvile explain how the slogan “Get Brexit Done” got the election done for Boris Johnson.

Stalwart of the New Labour years Patrick Diamond, who wrote manifestos for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, recalls struggling to pinning ministers down agree on policy, while Torsten Bell, 2015 manifesto author, discusses how to stick to pledges in government.

And Sascha also speaks to Andrew Fisher, writer of the Labour Party’s 2017 and 2019 manifestos, who fesses up to historic mistakes and talks about how the leaking of Jeremy Corbyn’s 2017 plan ended up being a boon rather than a bust.

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