Once the good, the bad and the ugly that has emerged from this protracted election campaign are weighed up, what the Labour Party has really placed on the electorate’s table is, in essence, a clean break from the way in which it operates, the way in which it interfaces with the public and the way that the political class is held accountable for its performance.

The Labour Party has quite successfully marketed itself as the new style of doing politics, not only through its 800-plus point electoral programme, but, on a wider level, in terms greater political accountability and the public’s role in governmental decisions.  From the myriad issues raised during this campaign, this is the key issue.

One leading factor here is the party’s proposal to have the public nominate and vote for their own representative on government boards.  Another tranche to that is the party’s open governance pledge - making the people part of the decision-making process by publishing all draft legislation for public consultation and creating new ways of communicating to encourage as many policy suggestions as possible from the public.  This is about better involving the public in the running of the country, and creating the types of active citizens that will take this country onward and upward. 

Labour also aims to make parliamentarians accountable for their work by paying MPs for their actual parliamentary attendance, which has been found to be seriously lacking in too many instances. On a related note, it has also proposed lengthening the statute of limitations on political corruption cases.

Placing to the side the plethora of facts and figures that have been thrown at the electorate over the last nine weeks as the parties battled it out, it is these central issues that Labour’s campaign vision boils down to.

But it was the party’s first proposal that has perhaps proved to be the biggest bone of electoral contention.  True to its word, Labour unveiled its natural gas-based energy vision at the very inception of the campaign and while some of the steam has died down since, it is very much still on the agenda. While of the utmost importance, one needs to tread very carefully as it judges the two parties’ polices as they are extremely technical, and potentially risky in an economic sense.  Voters should not go to the polls merely on the promise of lower electricity bills, from either party.  There is so much more to consider.

Labour’s energy plans also incorporate private sector involvement, which forms part of an image that the party is seeking to project, perhaps in a bid to shake off the stigma from the party’s economic policies of the of the 70s and 80s - that it is the most business-friendly political party.

And while negative campaigning has been a considerable temptation, it should be noted that Labour’s part in that was much larger before the onset of the official campaign.  In fact, the main cross-party accusation has been directed at the inaction in reporting a case of an allegedly large amount of drugs at a party club.

And while the Labour leader has apologised for not having reported the incident to the police and while he continues to be dragged over hot coals on the issue, it will be up to the electorate to decide whether that shortcoming still makes him an worthy prime minister or not.

On the whole, Labour has branded itself as the trailblazer over this campaign, and the incumbent Nationalist Party as being stale and bereft of new ideas.

But the two questions about the Labour Party voters need to ask themselves on the way to the polling booth is whether they believe that the Labour Party can, first of all, accomplish all that it is promising and, secondly, whether its promises match up with their vision for the future of the country.