So, we are just over three weeks away from the surprise general election and the Party manifestos are being produced this week. The first to be launched was Labour on the 16^th May in Bradford. Of course, we have been eagerly awaiting the policy announcements here at the Sports Think Tank.

The good news is that there is a section called 'Sport' in the manifesto. We have observed over the years that the length of the sports commitments has varied. This time we will describe this as a light touch commitment to sport. Like other observers we would say that the commitments fall a little short of fully recognising the contribution sport, recreation and physical activity can play in delivering government policies in a variety of areas.

What the sport section does cover is secondary ticketing, supporters Trusts, disabled access to sports stadium and the issue of the Premier League 5% distribution of TV monies and that's about it.

So, if you aren't a football fan or spectator there isn't much detail to be found. We hope this means that a Labour government is still open to ideas about the role sport can play in a government programme if it won the election. It does show how much further we must go as a sector to get across the positive messages about sports contribution to society. We know that in an election dominated by BREXT, the economy and the state of our public services that Sport will always be down the list of priorities, but we do hope that after 20 years of lottery funding and our successful 2012 Olympics that policy makers will realise there is more to sport than Football and football fans! We look forward to seeing the other manifestos over the coming days and hope there is a little more detail!