Managing the transition to a new administration

Councillor Steve Reed, Leader of London Borough of Lambeth, writes about the transition to power following his party's recent election victory.

After months of exhausting campaigning and a sleepless night at the count, the transfer of power to the winning party is shockingly immediate. The change of title from ‘Leader of the Opposition’ to ‘Leader of the Council’ happens at once, but the hard work of making that name-change meaningful consumes the weeks that follow. 

The months we’d spent working on our ‘transition plan’ proved invaluable. With everything else swirling around so fast, it was reassuring to know that we’d already agreed with senior managers what key decisions needed to be taken over the first few weeks and months. There’s a temptation for any new administration to stamp their feet and throw everything out of the window. That has to be resisted. Much of the everyday business of the council needs to continue through the transition period. 

With the Labour group annual general meeting (AGM) coming up just days after the election, it was important to make sure all our councillors would have a role that matched their skills, interests and ambitions. The group elected the frontbench team to whom I then allocated portfolios, but with 22 new councillors, we are putting together a development plan for every individual. 

It’s easy to forget just how much support new councillors need to become effective, and with a new cabinet team we needed to start work to build a shared sense of purpose, priority and working styles. 

Senior managers needed clarity about our priorities as early as possible. After consulting with our new cabinet members, I sent an open letter to the chief executive.  It summarised our objectives as ‘delivering quality, tackling inequality’ and flagged up our three key themes: high quality services that represent value for money; tackling inequality and social exclusion; and closer engagement with citizens. Together with the manifesto and the transition plan, this gave the organisation a clear view of our political priorities – a necessity if we were to hit the ground running. 

To communicate the same messages to the rest of the organisation, we’ve arranged a series of presentations to managers and a visibility campaign throughout June and July – visiting staff and users where services are being delivered on the front line. 

The public, too, want to know what’s happening. The council’s communications team are working on a strategy that highlights the early political decisions and initiatives that demonstrate a change of control. These range from key initiatives – such as starting a consultation process for a new secondary school – to more symbolic messages like celebrating the multi-racial composition of England’s football team by flying the St George’s Cross over the town hall for the duration of the World Cup. 

Large numbers of important stakeholders and groups want a new leader’s attention.  I held early meetings with Ken Livingstone and the borough police commander, but with so many competing demands it’s impossible to see everyone. To show willing, I sent a letter to several hundred key partners, introducing myself as the new leader, and committing our administration to close partnership working. I’m intending to follow this up with personal meetings over the coming few months. 

A critical issue is how to change our councillors’ mindset from being in opposition to being in power. In opposition, you have the luxury of picking the issues you want to work with. In administration, you have to deal with whatever issues become live, and we will inevitably be taking decisions that some people won’t like. 

To get through the challenges that that raises, we are using this early period to build teams that are strong and focused enough to withstand any difficulties that lie ahead. 

Among the most important of these teams are the political group; the new cabinet; the interface with the council’s senior management team; and the Local Strategic Partnership including key partners such as health, the police and the voluntary sector. With a huge agenda facing any incoming administration – and the need to get a grip on the organisation – building effective teams, delegating decision making appropriately and agreeing where the focus of activity will be, are all vital. 

It felt brave when we decided to go ahead with the planned IDeA Peer Review just a month after the election. In fact, the review was immensely helpful. It confirmed our view of the scale of the challenge required to turn round an under-performing council.  Sobering, but a useful reality check just six weeks into a new administration that, in the review team’s opinion, has effected a very smooth transition. 

Councillor Steve Reed (Labour) is Leader of the London Borough of Lambeth. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those held by the IDeA.

This article was published in June 2006.