Can Britain’s “mission-led” government defy gravity?

The state opening of Parliament is an odd mix of pageantry and wonkery. “My Government’s legislative programme will be mission-led,” declared King Charles III, addressing the red-robed Lords from a gilded throne on July 17th. Sir Keir Starmer promises that “missions” will form the centrepiece of his new government. Whether this approach works will help determine his success in office.

Sir Keir, a technocrat by inclination, was partly inspired by the work of Mariana Mazzucato, an economist and author of “Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism”. In it she argues that the space programmes of the 1960s and the covid-19 vaccination effort can provide a model for tackling other complex challenges. By setting audacious goals, using state procurement smartly and giving businesses and researchers the task of coming up with solutions, governments can fix big problems, boost productivity and generate other innovations (just as the moon landings led to baby formula and foil blankets). That, at least, is the theory.