2024 is likely to see a general election take place in the United Kingdom, with wide ranging speculation that it may take place later this year, and certainly before January 2025 when the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 would come into effect.
As CEOs and leaders of academy trusts, this clearly has certain strategic implications – there are likely to be changes in national policy and position whichever party forms a new government; and the year could also bring some potential dilemmas for leaders around how to manage what can be a sensitive time in public life and for local communities. An election year provides an opportunity for plenty of leadership challenges and pitfalls. So let’s reflect a little more.
CEOs and leaders in education tend (quite rightly) to be passionate about social issues and policy; however, in these sensitive and uncertain times, it’s also fair to say that there are huge reputational and professional risks by not leading with a deliberate focus on those things that are within our control, and with sufficient diligence or objectivity. How do leaders keep an eye on what’s happening politically – to remain strategic – without being consumed by it in their leadership? How do they ensure they manage their responsibility to remain at a certain distance from the political fray, not least to avoid the risk of undermining both their community-leadership role and their professional standing? This is not to say that trust leaders shouldn’t have views, opinions or feelings about particular issues; rather that we need to give careful thought both as to how we navigate our role in a context that is increasingly political, and how we communicate on important issues at this time. Reflecting properly on this is key to ensuring our leadership remains focused and we hold with our commitment to objectivity and integrity (two of the seven Nolan Principles of Public Life).
This paper is written to support CEOs and senior trust leaders as you approach and lead through the context in the months ahead, with some practical tips and advice. Please note that, more specifically, the official general election period (Purdah) brings with it particular expectations for civil servants and public organisations (with these principles tending to apply to wider public service leaders) and a link to previous official advice on this is shared at the end of this document (UPDATE, guidance for civil servants and public bodies regarding the 2024 general election has now been published here on 23rd May 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants ) . Purdah is the period of time from when Parliament is actually dissolved until the general election process has been concluded.