The government’s first 100 days have gone largely to plan, now comes the hard part

By Richard Shaw*Although the notion of a government’s “first 100 days” in office is constitutionally meaningless, it has become part of the modern political lexicon. In short, much of the first 100 days has involved undoing the former government’s initiatives. Shortly we will all stop talking about the first 100 days. The most consequential things that took place in the coalition’s first 100 days, in other words, were not in the action plan. It is also worth noting, perhaps, that while the “first 100 days” is usually associated with Roosevelt, its roots are actually in France.