Contents march 2011

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Regulars Letters 4 Diary 6 Channel 4’s Alex Thomson Data 8 Polling 10 Blogger writes 11 Debate 12 Does the media focus too much on personality in politics? James Lyons and Sir Malcolm Rifkind disagree Point of order 13 John Woodcock MP on welfare The Idea 14 The ippr’s Nick Pearce on why the left should tap into conservatism Events/The Wanted List 16 Ministerial profile 18 Norman Baker MP of the month 20 Stella Creasy

Total Campaigns Managing a crisis 22 Some tried-and-tested rules for averting disaster George Pascoe-Watson 23 Tackles growth in his new column Never waste a crisis 24 How a disaster could be the shake-up your company needs Campaign doctor 25 Act before the crisis 26 The importance of planning ahead Making use of risk registers 27 Bryan Johnston on implementing risk management’s best tool Making demos work 28 Paul Richards on why protests usually fail and how to maximise their worth

FeaturesHasJohnBercow fulfilled his pledges as Speaker? 31 What the ‘little chap’ in the big chair has contributed to parliamentary reform Taking their seats 32 Does an MP’s choice of seat in the Commons determine their character? Carwyn Jones 34 The first minister of Wales looks at the state of play before the Welsh referendum Andrew Lansley 39 The health secretary attempts to dispel myths about his NHS reforms Ready to (bank)roll 40 David Hencke investigates the financial health of the Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem parties in 2011 Jim Murphy 44 Amber Elliott finds out what the shadow defence secretary has in store for Labour Boris Johnson 48 The mayor of London confronts rumours about becoming PM and his upcoming battle with Ken Livingstone

Total History The Maastricht Treaty 70 Michael Spicer looks back on the Conservative Party’s civil war over Europe Where are they now? 72 Sir Richard Body History of one object 73 The act for the abolition of the slave trade Memorabilia 73 Aidan Burley MP They were also MPs 74

Total Life Book reviews 76 Keith Simpson MP reviews the latest reads Brought to book 77 Tom Greatrex MP My old book 77 Michael Howard Greenland 78 The National Theatre’s latest offering Researchers’ stories 79 Hinterland 80 Nick de Bois MP Top ten 80 Lunch with... 82 Lord Alfred Dubs special sections

The future of our communities 56 Survey results on the sustainability of our villages, towns and cities, in association with Siemens

Reforms on legal costs and access to justice 62 With DAS, we examine new proposals for civil claims funding, and interview justice minister Jonathan Djanogly

Total Politics | March 2011 | 3