I expect that there are still people who think that a further Conservative Government is desirable or even possible, but I am not one of them. The last five years of Conservative rule have proved not just a disaster for the Conservative party but grim years for the country too. The promise of reform has turned to weary resignation from Minister to Regulator that not much can be done. We are truly at a low ebb – at least in terms of Government.

The local elections for councillors, mayors and police officers has been a total disaster for the Conservatives who are being told across England and Wales (not Scotland yet) that the way Conservatives govern is unacceptable to the majority of us. The long tail from the early years of the coalition to this, sees more scandals and more unseemly chicanery.

Rather than take on the challenges presented by our unfunded pension liabilities, this Government has ducked the challenges of their state pension reviews and have allowed an “us and them” culture of resentment between those with private and public pensions to grow. This Government has ducked all the big questions about long term funding of elderly care and we find ourselves still without a coherent strategy for meeting the challenges to the NHS and DWP’s care budgets.

Worst for funded pensions is the blight on progress that has happened because of the need to pander to the wishes of the backbenchers. These backbenchers worry about marginal rates of taxation and the maintenance of the current regressive taxation system governing pensions, they wish to protect wealth management and promote freedom of the mass affluent to consider their pots as wealth rather than an insurance against old age. They have stood by while defined benefit schemes have closed , first to new members and then future accrual. They have stood by when those schemes swapped investment in productive UK equity for gilts and more recently corporate bonds.

Rather than encourage entrepreneurial renaissance, they have supressed those who wish to invest in pensions backing superfunds and capital backed journey plans. They have completely squashed CDC with regulation that make such schemes unimplementable for all but the largest employers. They have shown little insight into what has happened with open banking, choosing to pursue an outdated strategy to the implementation of pension dashboards that leaves them still more than two years from launch.

Such has been the total failure to encourage optimism among employers for pensioning their staff that Government cannot even legislate for the 2017 AE reforms which look like they will have at least a 10 year implementation schedule. The Treasury has come to see pension contributions as another tax and one that nets them little revenue. Consequently we continue to store up problems for the future. Meantime the promised flow of capital from pensions into the real economy is stymied by the allure of buy-out and the inability of Government to turn the value for money agenda into meaningful pension investment.

There are bright spots, the investment strategies of LGPS, which by-passed the de-risking agenda of LDI, go from strength to strength. LGPS officials look for ways to invest more productively rather than preparing for an end-game. The funds are super well-funded and – with a little imagination – could be used to fund cash-starved councils get back on their feet.

But such optimism is in short supply. The lack of vision within pensions is staggering. The failure of Government to take a proper lead from Prime to Pension Minister has led to a disillusionment among those in charge of pension schemes and insurance companies that much will change.

How different from ten years ago when we were building the infrastructure for auto-enrolment , defining our ambition and legislating ahead of future crisis with concepts such as pot follows member. The past ten years have been pension’s wasted decade and we have poor leadership from Government to thank for that.