"I think I disappointed people by not having a nervous breakdown"

An interview with Kim Campbell, the Canadian Prime Minister in 1993.

As the prospect of a truly catastrophic election result for the Tories becomes ever more likely, the Canadian election of 1993 has started featuring more heavily in coverage.

Not only is it a rare example of a government being wiped out in a first past the post election, but it also saw a Conservative party undone by the rise of a right-wing alternative called Reform.

So we thought it would be a good idea to talk to the person who experienced that loss, Kim Campbell, to get a sense of what it feels like to be in the middle of a struggling campaign. We also explored the similarities and differences to Rishi Sunak’s predicament.

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But before we get to that, we wanted to welcome the surge of new subscribers we’ve had since the election started. We passed 50k subscribers yesterday and enough of you are paying that we’re now the biggest politics substack outside the US. A huge thank you for allowing us to spend our time doing this.

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In the last few days we’ve had Dylan Difford on all the records this election could break, Mark McGeoghegan on the election in Scotland, and Josh on Lib Dem tactical voting. We’ve also had seat previews for west and east London.

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We also wanted to point readers to a report Sam wrote for Nesta, as part of their Options 2040 work, that’s published today. It takes a big picture view of the challenges facing the next government, and looks at some of the realistic options they have for tackling them.

It argues we’re facing a serious “capacity crunch” due to rising demand for services, decades of underinvestment in infrastructure, and the increasing costs of regulation. Managing this “crunch” requires not just better policy but building a state that’s capable of effective delivery.

You can read it at this link.

An Interview with the Rt Hon Kim Campbell

After holding elected office at all three levels of Canadian government, Kim Campbell served as Canada’s nineteenth and first female Prime Minister in 1993. She previously held cabinet portfolios as Minister of State for Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Minister of National Defence and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. After her tenure as Prime Minister, Campbell was a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, served as the Canadian Consul General in Los Angeles (1996-2000), and played prominent roles in many academic, public, and charitable organisations, promoting democratic values and leadership, including the Club of Madrid, a forum of former heads of government and state, and the Council of Women World Leaders.

Lawrence:
With the possibility of our current Conservative government being wiped out in the coming election, people keep on mentioning Canada in 1993. As you were then the Prime Minister, presumably this is giving you some flashbacks. I'm well aware of the differences between the two situations, but it would be interesting to have your thoughts on what's different between now and 1993, and also what lessons you think might be drawn from the experience?