So do we live in a Big Society?

Launched in 2010, the brainchild of Steven Hilton, the Big Society was on the lips of every Conservative politician in 2010. The flagship of the manifesto and after the coalition were formed, the Big Society Bank and the Big Society Network were launched.

By 2014 the Big Society Network was put into administration. By this time David Cameron had stopped using the phrase (he stopped in 2013) and it was no longer used in government documents.

In fact as recently as this week Michael Gove, the chief whip, said that Big Society was no longer a description the government would use.

Which is why commentators are surprised at its resurrection less than a month before polling day. Some argue that after a few days of aggressive campaigning the polls are indicating that the public are being turned off by personal attacks, while others say that the Conservatives need a “nice” policy to match Labour’s extremely popular plan to scrap the non dom tax (59 per cent of the public back it).

Either way today’s announcements on volunteering are an attempt to breathe life into a widely mocked agenda with the prime minster describing the policy as the “clearest demonstration of the Big Society in action”. Watch from 10 mins in:

Gove on #newsnight Tuesday: you won’t hear “Big Society” in this campaign. PM today: “This is Big Society in action” https://t.co/MYBDPhEfTu

— Ian Katz (@iankatz1000) April 10, 2015