Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Scenario Planning an Electoral Victory in the UK

The British general elections of 2010 produced an unprecedented coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. This was a landmark breakthrough for the Liberal Democrats which have long been at the margins of British national political power despite being the third-largest sizable national political party.  From the scenario planning perspective, we note that Vince Cable, one of the most senior and respected Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament and now appointed to the British Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, worked from 1990 with the famed Scenario Planning department at the energy multinational Royal Dutch/Shell, becoming Chief Economist of Shell (and leading the scenario planning team) from 1995 to 1997. As this Times of London article notes, the Liberal Democrats used scenario planning techniques extensively in “war gaming” their electoral strategy.


Picture: Vince Cable MP (credit: Office of Nick Clegg MP via Wikimedia Commons)

Posted by Zhan Li on 06/02 at 09:01 PM
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