Editor’s message and May/June 2017 magazine download

The forthcoming general election and the implications for infrastructure feature prominently in the May/June issue of Infrastructure Intelligence, says Andy Walker in his editor's comment in the latest edition of the magazine

If you thought 2016 was a volatile year politically, with the Brexit vote and the resignation of a prime minister, then 2017 is shaping up to be similarly dramatic following the prime minister’s surprise announcement that there will be a snap general election on 8 June.

Theresa May's shock move came despite the government previously denying it would call an early general election and her administration appearing to be concentrating its efforts on the looming Brexit negotiations. The prime minister is clearly concerned about ongoing uncertainty over the Brexit negotiations and she has calculated that a general election will give her the increased majority she needs to remove that.

In the short term, all this means for the infrastructure sector is more uncertainty as the political system grinds to a halt for the election. It is to be hoped that whatever the outcome of the 8 June poll we will see the new government renewing commitments to key infrastructure projects, moving them on apace and getting them delivered as soon as possible.

To that end, this issue of Infrastructure Intelligence highlights an important new white paper on cities and infrastructure that the new government would do well to take note of and act upon. We also examine the role of the millennial generation in a four-page feature which is essential reading for everyone with an interest in the industry's future. 

That future ought to be a bright one given the support for infrastructure development being voiced by politicians of all shades during the general election campaign. After 8 June the industry will need to hold those politicians to account and ensure that their honeyed campaign phrases become a reality and that the UK gets the funding and political backing to deliver the quality infrastructure the country so urgently needs.

Andy Walker is the editor of Infrastructure Intelligence.

Click here to download the May/June 2017 edition of the magazine.