ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a model of governance in the Blair era and argues that in spite of the efforts to build consensus, the government has had significant problems with realising its objectives due to an inability to build a consensus which includes the interests of the public. The efforts by the Labour government in building consensus between organised interests, expert opinion and the European Union have largely been successful, resulting in a significant change of emphasis between the Major and Blair administrations. The chapter shows that road pricing threatens a number of core values which are held by the capitalist state as liberty, individualism and freedom. In the Major era, transport, and most particularly the motor car, emerged as an issue of high political salience as it increasingly was blamed for a combination of environmental and economic problems such as rising congestion and deteriorating public health.
