As the fallout from last week's elections continues to be assessed, attention turning to the role of policy in the results.

First off is Anthony Browne, director of Policy Exchange, who writes in today's Telegraph - 'Time to examine Conservative policies'. He sees policy as being crucial to David Cameron's continued pitch forward momentum:

"Cameron and his team need to "seal the deal" with the voters, not just relying on discontent with the Government, but setting out positive reasons to vote for them. That means concentrating on core themes - mending Britain's broken society, delivering real public-service reform, less Government interference in people's lives and more social responsibility."

Rather bleakly, Peter Riddell feels that policy will have little to do with recovery Labour's potential recovery ('Gordon Brown is a leader left with very few options'):

"I doubt whether the publication of the draft legislative programme for 2008-09 – with its proposals on housing, health, education and constitutional renewal – will reverse Labour’s unpopularity."

Labour's recovery, Riddell beleives, hinges entirely on the economy.

Polly Toynbee in The Guardian has an interesting variation on this theme ('Labour has nothing to say and no territory of its own').  She thinks Labour are boxed in on policy and will have difficulty attacking the Conservatives:

"[Labour] can hardly castigate Tory "reforms" out-sourcing more of education and the NHS. Labour did that too. Or rebut Tory promises to be even tougher on crime, sentencing and filling up more prisons, because Labour did that too. Favouring business and the hyper-rich? Labour did it too. Ungenerous to the poor? Labour will trip over its 10p tax debacle... That is where triangulation has led: Labour has nothing to say and no territory to call its own."

She is putting her hope in the ideas being espoused in a speech by James Purnell today.  CentreForum will be going along to hear what is being said - so more about this in the future.