Difference between revisions of "Labour party"

Revision as of 15:02, July 31, 2007

The Labour Party is a British democratic socialist political party. It was founded in 1900, and is currently the party of government in the United Kingdom. On 27 June 2007, Gordon Brown became the leader of the Labour party and Prime Minister of the UK, taking over from Tony Blair, the longest serving Labour Prime Minister.

History

The Labour Party originated from the trade union and socialist movements of the turn of the century, and throughout its history has been a left-wing party. The landslide victory of Clement Attlee in 1945 led to sweeping reforms of indsutry and the creation of the welfare state. Attlee's government nationalised major industries, founded the National Health Service, and developed the idea of welfare from cradle to grave paid for out of taxation and available to everyone free of charge. Much of the welfare state is still in force today.

The Labour Party has also been a strong proponent of social reform. Under Harold Wilson in the late 60s, abortion and homosexuality were legalised, the death penalty abolished and divorce was made easier. Unease from a perceived large number of immigrants from Commonwealth countries also led to four Race Relations Acts, all of which were passed under Labour governments.

Industrial Strife

The Labour Party always prided itself on strong links with trade unions, but by the late 1960s there was growing industrial unrest. Inflation was becoming a growing problem and unemployment began to rise. Harold Wilson was elected for a third time in February 1974, taking over from Conservative Edward Heath whose government was brought to its knees by oil shortages and a crippling coal miners' strike in 1973. Throughout the late 70s strikes were commonplace, tight controls on pay rises, known as incomes policy, was struggling to curb inflation which reached a high of 27.6%. A series of devastating strikes in the winter of 1978/79 which became known as the Winter of Discontent led to the government of James Callaghan being defeated in a vote of no confidence and a general election called which Conservative Margaret Thatcher won in a landslide.

A swing to the left

Michael Foot became leader of the Labour Party in 1980 and took the party in a more leftward direction. The 1983 manifesto pledged to reverse all Thatcher's economic reforms; renationalise all privitised businesses, raise taxes and make them more progressive, restore trade union powers, leave the European Union, abolish nuclear weapons and campaign for a united Ireland as a solution to the paramilitarism and terrorism that had beset the province of Northern Ireland throughout the 70s. The manifesto became known as the "longest suicide note in history" and was defeated by Thatcher's Conservatives in a landslide. Pro-European Union Labour Party members who formed their own party, the SDP, nearly polled more votes than the Labour Party.

Foot was succeeded by Neil Kinnock who was still pledging broadly left-wing prolicies in 1987. This manifesto too was defeated in a landslide.

New Labour

The term New Labour didn't come into being until Tony Blair became leader in 1994, but the reform of the Labour Party took place long before then. By 1992, it was clear that Thatcher's reforms had struck a chord with voters and the Labour party were no longer promising to renationalise industries or restore trade union powers. Only the top rate of income tax would be raised from 40 to 50%. All the opinion polls showed a likely Labour victory, but a close election led to an unusually high voter turnout, and the Conservative party won by a narrow victory of 23 seats.

John Smith became leader in 1992, but his sudden death in 1994 led to Tony Blair to become leader and the term New Labour was born. Blair started by reforming Clause IV. (Clause IV dealt with the purpose of the Party and referred direct to its erstwhile desire for public ownership of the means of production; the current version instead calls for 'a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few'.) Blair also promised no increases in income tax and pledged to run a stable economy. They were elected in a landslide in 1997, and again in 2001.

One of Blair's most controversial decisions was to invade Iraq in 2003. The was the second largest country in the Coalition of the Willing and was largely in charge of the southern provinced including the city of Basrah. Possibly due to the war's unpopularity, the Labour party won a much smaller majority in 2005 and has seen key bills defeated by backbench revolts such as the plan to hold terrorist suspects for up to 90 days without charge.

Prime Ministers

• Ramsay MacDonald (1924 and 1929-1935) [1]

• Clement Attlee (1945-1951) [2]

• Harold Wilson (1964-1970 and 1974-1976) [3]

• James Callaghan (1976-1979) [4]

• Tony Blair (1997-2007) [5]

• Gordon Brown (2007-present)

External links

• Official site