Palmer's Pensions: Will we all end up agreeing with Nick?

Election fever is certainly gripping the nation and with the televised leader debates in full swing surely nobody can claim that they haven't seen or heard enough from any of our three main political parties.

But will this constant political buzz have any real impact on the numbers of people who actually turn out on the 6th May to cast their vote? And more to the point will the votes that are cast make any difference? Almost every journalist, political commentator, blogger and bookmaker in the land will be quick to tell you that we're destined for a hung parliament. What was once widely believed to be a one horse race is now turning into anybody's game with none of the political parties looking likely to exercise an overall majority.

So here's the thing... would a hung parliament really be all that bad after all? Obviously it would be a bit of a damp squib after all the hype and the three leaders currently battling it out are warning how much of a missed opportunity this would be. But there is part of me that is wondering if it really would be that big a disaster especially for our pensions industry. The cynic in me says there has been such a dearth of real decisive action and long-term thinking in British pensions anyway that maybe; just maybe an electoral outcome that restricts any further short-term tinkering to the system can only be a good thing.

The one slight concern I have is that the lack of a clear winner could lead to a follow up election in 6-12 months time. This would delay the time-scales for any review of NEST and may extend the uncertainty as to whether the pension reform proposals that incorporate NEST and auto-enrolment will continue in their current format or whether some changes will be introduced. This is clearly a concern as it is crucial that we do not further delay these urgent changes.

But I have to say, provided that we can be get some clarity on the direction for NEST, the thought of limited political power on pensions does hold some appeal for me. I am hopeful it could spell an end to the piece-meal approach that has presided over pensions for so long. Perhaps by stifling policy change for policy change sake we might at least see some long-term thinking around pensions and some real consensus on the policies and actions that we need to take. It might also pave the way for taking politics out of pensions and introducing an independent body to shape a savings strategy for the UK. With ten days to go only time will tell but a hung parliament might actually be a blessing in disguise for pensions.

Martin Palmer, head of corporate pensions marketing