Let us traverse across time and return to those fateful days in May 2010. Like a spectre haunting the past, we recall the infamous 'rose garden love-in' and the the level of expectations the coalition was building. Health, economic, education, transport, social, political, constitutional and banking reform was all promised; this would be the most radical government ever witnessed in Britain, it would dwarf the statue of the reforming administrations of the 19th Century. The legislative programme was placed on par with the Great Reform Acts' and political changes of the Victorian era; the Prime Minister and his deputy were warned - the bar was being set too high. What if, dangerously, the coalition failed to deliver or the reforms were too timid? O how they laughed at us. We were being too pessimistic and negative about the British people and their desire for change. Nick and Dave assumed the public would back their agenda, regardless of what the public actually thought and believed.
The coalition are not laughing now.
As Tony Blair noted in his memoir, during his second term, there is an awkward moment in politics. The awkwardness is when you discover the country is not as radical as you believe. Yes, studies and endless research conclude reforms will make the country more sufficient and adaptable; but there is one problem: what if voters are nonchalant or sceptical of change?
Electoral reform is a classic example. Majority of the public believe in altering the voting system, but as the AV referendum revealed, that same majority were quite content with the status quo. Liberal Democrats are horrified to foresee a similar problem occurring with Lords reforms. This liberal-esque country has been discovered to be, well, rather traditional and unwilling to succumb to the forces of change. Sure, we'd yearn for a different path, but the public are unsure (or even sceptical) when politicians point to a new route. Nick and Dave's 'new hope' might be rather inspiring and brilliant to experience, but your average person is not really interested. The continuous grand schemes are starting to become rather tedious because the coalition fail to deliver on the potential and the original promise. After all, the Freedom Act was meant to rival the Great Reform Act 1832 - it didn't. The most humble political student could envisage a more inspiring defence of liberties and freedom than that lack-lusting Act.
The first rule of politics is simple: don't promise what you can't achieve. Never offer the public the world and give them a weekend break instead. It is the path to political suicide and shall destroy any trust you had with voters.
History will probably be much kinder to the coalition, yet the present is a cruel judge. Yes, the coalition have managed to reduce the deficit by 3%, which is a steady method of returning our fiscal policy to sanity; but I cannot help feel it could've achieved much more. I predict another two years-maximum-before the Liberal Democrats depart and issue a confidence-supply relationship with the Tories. And that will be the day that all those hopes and promises will be officially dead. For good.