When being passed into law, governmental policies are scrutinised, analysed and criticised in the media from every angle.

Yet once that law is passed and the initial furore died down, coverage of those policies dwindle and the true extent of their impact remains largely unreported. The spotlight therefore must be repositioned to cover a longer lifespan of a policy. In such instances, more often than not one is left wondering... what was all the fuss originally about?!

Take the example of the Licensing Act, which relaxed the laws on opening hours for pubs and clubs. Media coverage upon the law’s inception conjured up images of British city centres becoming neon-lit streets of drunken depravity – awash with perpetually open watering holes.

Of course, in reality this has proved far from true. A year on from the law being passed, less than two per cent of licensed premises were open for 24 hours – the vast majority of which were hotels and guesthouses.

Likewise, the introduction of variable fees to UK universities has not slashed the numbers of undergraduates entering institutions. Despite an original drop in the first year following their introduction (2006) – which can perhaps be attributed to media scaremongering – figures for 2007 entry indicate a 1.6 per cent rise in applicant numbers on the year before the changes were introduced.

In conclusion, to add balance to how we assess both policies and politicians our focus must also take in how those policies end up further down the political timeline. As a result the mists of hyperbole often part to reveal effective, considered and successful policy making.