Introduction to the Political Economy of the Sub-prime Crisis in Britain: Constructing and Contesting Competence

It is almost always inadvisable to try to second-guess the character of a general election campaign before it begins in earnest. Yet, even in today's shadow-boxing phase in advance of the British general elect ion due to be called in 2010, a number of important campaign Contours are already in evidence. it is one of the unwritten laws of British electoral politics that governments Unravel-particularly those of a certain longevity-as events appear to have spiralled ever more out of their control. The task for the Brown government in the upcoming general election campaign is to try to convince voters that there is still life left within Labour despite its current travails with the credit crunch and British banks' self-imposed entrapment in the sub-prime crisis. Claim and counter-claim are likely to pass between the government and the opposition parties as to where the blame lies for the current disarray of the banking sector, whose model of regulation is most responsible and who is best placed to ensure a Successful clean-up operation. Whoever is perceived to have come out on top in this debate is likely to stand a very good chance of winning the election.