Many of the party’s high-profile pledges – such as scrapping tuition fees and opposing nuclear power – have been ditched but perhaps more have been adopted than might have been expected for the smaller party in a coalition

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Liberal Democrat manifesto launched on 14 April 2010 was built around “four steps to a fairer Britain”. Many of its pledges have gone nowhere, particularly in areas like education, and a number of high-profile ones have been ditched, like scrapping tuition fees and opposing nuclear power. However, perhaps more have been adopted than might have been expected for a minor party in a coalition.

Economy

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Lib Dems wanted the governor of the Bank of England (among others) to have a say on the timing and scale of a deficit reduction plan. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

1) The first £10,000 people earn will be tax-free. The party makes that a tax cut of £700 for “most people”.



Met – This has been delivered under the coalition.



2) Introduce a “mansion tax” at a rate of 1% on properties worth more than £2m.

Not met – This was blocked by the Conservatives although taxing higher value properties is still party policy.

How much of the Conservatives' 2010 election manifesto was implemented? Read more

3) Break up the banks and “get them lending again”.

Not met – The banks are still intact and there are still questions over whether efforts to get them lending to small businesses have been effective.

4) Cut the deficit with £15bn of savings in government spending, including a £400 cap on pay rises for public sector workers, a banking levy and not renewing the Trident nuclear deterrent system.



Partially met – The public spending cuts have been steeper than this, the banking levy remains and public sector workers have been subjected to an extended pay squeeze. But the decision on Trident has been delayed and it will probably be renewed.

5) Create a Council on Financial Stability with representatives of all parties, the governor of the Bank of England and the chair of the Financial Services Authority to work on the timing and scale of a deficit reduction plan.

Not met – This did not happen. Deficit reduction remains the responsibility of the chancellor.



What happened to Labour's 2010 election manifesto? Read more

Education

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A poster of Nick Clegg is displayed on a placard held by a student demonstrator on 9 December 2010 in London as parliament voted on whether to implement the coalition government’s proposals to increase university tuition fees. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

1) Increase funding for the most disadvantaged pupils by £2.5bn.



Met – The coalition brought in a pupil premium giving schools extra money for each pupil on free school meals.

2) An extra £2.5bn to cut class sizes to 20 in primary schools, increase one-to-one tuition and provide catch-up classes for 160 pupils in each secondary school.

Not met – Class sizes have slightly risen and one-to-one tuition scaled back.



3) Workplace scheme for 800,000 pupils to give them the opportunity to gain skills and experience.

Not met – This does not seem to have been launched.



4) 15,000 extra places on foundation degree courses, which can lead to undergraduate courses.

Not met – This does not seem to have happened.



5) Raise the adult learning grant from £30 to £45 a week. This grant is to encourage poorer students to return to college.

Not met – This is still £30 per week.

6) The cleverest students from the lowest-achieving schools are guaranteed a degree place.

Not met – No evidence of this being proposed under the coalition.



7) Scrap university tuition fees for undergraduates by 2016.

Not met – The party famously voted for an increase in fees under a new post-degree repayment system.



8) Replace academies with schools that are accountable to local authorities, but that have a charity or parent group as sponsor.

Not met – There has been an expansion of academies and introduction of free schools under the coalition.



9) Slim down the national curriculum and scale back Sats. Bring GCSEs, A-levels and vocational courses under a single diploma qualification.

Not met – The curriculum was reformed by education secretary Michael Gove in a very different way.

Health

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nick Clegg talks to nurses in the maternity unit at Kingston hospital, Surrey, before the last election in 2010. Photograph: Katie Collins/PA

1) Cut the Department of Health in half. Scrap strategic health authorities and limit managers’ pay.

Partially met – The Department of Health was not cut by half. Strategic health authorities were scrapped under then health secretary Andrew Lansley’s reforms.



2) Local health boards would work with councils to take over from primary care trusts.

Partially met – Primary care trusts were abolished and replaced with clinical commissioning groups, alongside health and wellbeing boards.

3) Patient entitlement to diagnosis and treatment on time or the right to go private.

Met – If patients are not seen with 18 weeks, the NHS body that commissions the care must investigate and offer a range of suitable alternative hospitals or community clinics. It is not clear if this happens in practice.

4) Patient right to register with any GP and access GP by email.

Not met – You may still have to live in the GP surgery’s catchment area and there is not requirement for access by email.

5) Require hospitals to be open about mistakes.

Met – Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative health secretary, has made hospital transparency a major theme in the aftermath of the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal.

6) Compulsory language and competence tests for doctors working in UK.

Met – The General Medical Council has new powers to conduct language tests for doctors working in the UK.

Crime, immigration and civil liberties

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Lib Dems promised to recruit 3,000 more police officers. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

1) Recruit 3,000 more police officers, paid for by scrapping ID cards, electronic fingerprints on passports, the prison building programme and Whitehall plans to track all emails and internet use.

Not met – There were 127,909 police officers in March 2014, compared with 143,734 in 2010.

2) Replace prison sentences of six months or less with community penalties and cancel the £800m prison-building programme.

Not met – Short sentences remain and several new prisons have been ordered under the coalition.

3) A freedom bill to regulate CCTV, end the collection of DNA from innocent citizens, scrap ID cards, the children’s contact database and anti-terrorist control orders. Halt the creation of new criminal offences.

Partially met – ID cards never went ahead and there was a “protection of freedoms act” but a number of new criminal offences have been created, such as forced marriage.

4) Immigration: a regional points-based system to ensure migrants can only work where they are needed.

Not met – This is now close to Ukip party policy of wanting an Australian points-based immigration system.

5) An independent agency to decide asylum claims and an end to the detention of children.

Partially met – There is no independent agency but the coalition promised to end child detention. This has not always been successful.

6) Effectively, an amnesty for illegal immigrants who entered the country before 2010. Prioritising deportation efforts on criminals, people-traffickers and other high-priority cases and letting law-abiding families earn citizenship.

Not met – The Conservatives would not have supported this.

7) Immediately reintroduce exit checks at all ports and airports.

Partially met – This has only just begun at ports and cross-channel rail stations after five years of coalition.

Defence and foreign policy

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine Vanguard. The Lib Dems pledged no like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear missile system. Photograph: PA

1) There would be a full judicial inquiry into allegations of British complicity in torture and state kidnapping.

Not met – This has been under taken by the intelligence and security committee of parliament which has frequently been accused of being too close to the authorities.

2) No like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear missile system.

Not met – The decision has been delayed to the next parliament

3) The Lib Dems say it is in Britain’s long-term interests to join the euro, but only after a referendum.

Ditched - The Lib Dems are no longer promoting entry into the euro.

4) There should be a “strong and positive” commitment to Europe.

Met – This has not happened at a coalition level because the Tories have signed up to a referendum but Clegg always makes clear his commitment to staying in the EU and debated Nigel Farage on the issue.

Families

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The manifesto promised 20 hours’ free childcare for every child from the age of 18 months. Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images

1) Fathers to get the right to time off work for antenatal appointments.

Met – This was brought in by business minister Jo Swinson in October.



2) Extend shared parental leave to 18 months, allowing parents to share their allocation of maternity and paternity leave.

Partially met - Extended parental leave was championed by Nick Clegg and implemented from April this year but only for a year, not 18 months.



3) The right to request flexible working for all, especially grandparents looking after children

Met – This was introduced under the coalition.



4) A move to 20 hours free childcare for every child from the age of 18 months.

Not met – There is only 15 hours of free childcare for three- to four-year-olds and some two-year-olds.



5) Immediately restore the link between the basic state pension and earnings.

Met – This happened under the coalition’s triple lock for pensions.



6) Scrap compulsory retirement ages, allowing those who wish to continue in work to do so.

Met – People are no longer obliged to retire at a certain age.





Environment

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The party promised to work for a global deal to limit temperature rise to 1.7C, based on equalising emissions between developed and developing countries. Photograph: John Giles/PA

1) Create a UK infrastructure bank



Met – The coalition set up a Green Investment Bank that has invested in dozens of projects and has capital funding of around £3.8bn.

2) Work for a global deal to limit temperature rise to 1.7C, based on equalising emissions between developed and developing countries.

Partially met – Lib Dem energy secretary, Ed Davey, has pushed climate change policy internationally but the international target is still 2C.

3) National road pricing offset by axing vehicle excise duty. Zero emissions targets for cars from 2040 through the EU.

Not met – This has not happened. VED still exists.

4) Tax on aircraft to replace air passenger duty. Scrap Heathrow expansion and all south-east airport expansion.

Not met – This has not happened. APD still exists and south-east airport expansion is being examined by the Davies Commission.

5) A zero-carbon economy by 2050.

Not met – The target is an 80% reduction relative to 1990 levels by 2050.

6) No to a new generation of nuclear power stations.

Not met – The Lib Dems U-turned and support nuclear as long as it is not subsidised.

7) Home energy improvements to get £400 cash in first year, and special loans of up to £10,000.

Met – This is quite similar to the coalition’s green deal.

8) A rolling programme to insulate all public buildings, starting with schools.

Partially met – The government’s energy efficiency strategy sets out £90m for improving the energy efficiency of public buildings, including schools and £540m for an energy efficiency scheme, which included public buildings.

9) Below-inflation rail fare rises, and one-third refunds for bus replacement services.

Not met – Rail fares have risen and travel disruption continues without refunds.

10) Designate gardens as greenfield sites in order to make it harder to build on them.

Met – This was one of the first acts if the coalition, changing in June 2010.

11) Target zero waste to landfill.

Partially met – A plan for a zero-waste economy was launched but obviously not achieved.

• This article was amended on 15 April 2015 to make clear that the freedom bill and a programme for insulating public buildings were both partially met, and the home energy improvements policy was met.