Despite health’s high profile in the 2005 General Election campaigns there are no specific mental health policies in any of the three main UK political parties’ election manifestos.
Spending, waiting lists, hospital hygiene… you’ll hear all about these in the coming weeks. But mental health is off the agenda – even though the Joint Parliamentary Report on the Labour Government’s draft Mental Health Bill, published last month, received considerable press attention, and despite the promises of both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to create a new Mental Health Act, should they come into power.
However, Mental health charities and organisations are determined that mental health issues should not be ignored in the run up to the election. Many have responded by produced their own manifestos and issue checklists for the election – follow these links to read Election 2005 publications from: