We are entering the pre-election phase, right enough. With a general election due in or before March 2025 and most speculation (and it is only that, mind) pointing towards a contest this time next year, probably in the wake of another giveaway budget, the parties are increasingly focusing all their energies on preparations. The work of identifying candidates, considering strategies, testing and refining messages and all the rest of the multifaceted business of getting a campaign moving is well under way. It will assume greater and greater importance as the clock inexorably ticks down.

Governments are always pummelled by events and the responsibilities that come with office. But they retain significant political advantages, too: they control the timetable and they have the power of action, the budget being the most obvious. Any government seeking re-election will try to influence events to its advantage as an election approaches.

In the final year of an administration, ministers often look to their legacies. It is also an opportunity to push through decisions and initiatives that might have little political payback – or even be unpopular – but are worth doing all the same. Good government is hard. Sometimes taking the right decision for the country in the long-term can have adverse political consequences in the short-term. But here are five things that the Government should do before it leaves office.

Proposals are due soon on holding some form of an........

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