The Labour Party
The Labour party has had a long and tenuous history in British politics and has helped shape Britain into the great nation it is today. Whether it was the post-war majority government of Clement Atlee deriving from the ‘bowls of the trade union movement’ or the so called new labour government under Tony Blair, the Labour party have been integral in the progression of modern British politics and has a long and interesting history.
The outcome of the 1945 election was more than a sensation. It was a political earthquake.
The general election held in 1945 signified a huge point in Labour and Britain’s political history; the results saw Labour return with 393 MP’S to The Conservatives 213 and The Liberals 12. Most importantly Labour now gained voters from more middle-class areas which was seen as a massive breakthrough for Labour in that it showed the ‘culmination of the ambitions of the Macdonald-Henderson generation’ . With this, Labour had managed to form their first majority administration with no obligations to any other party and saw this as an unequivocal triumph for the Labour party, which now saw it self very well aligned to act upon close to fifty years of Labour policy. This new government knew exactly what they wanted to implement and how they were going to implement it. Due to the atrocities of the first and second world wars, the British population concentrated more on the policies to do with major post-war social change and reconstruction and The Beveridge Report (chaired by William Beveridge) was seen as the truth and met with a remarkable level of interest. The report aimed to get people to stray away from old mentalities to do with the poor and also sought to instil three key changes. The first was...
... middle of paper ...
...n 2007 that very thing happened and the incompetent Gordan Brown now had the reigns. Popularity now began to fall to its lowest levels since the days of the Foot administration. Labour suffered heavy defeats under Brown and finance was often cited as the main reason for its downfall (in 2008 they only received £3,000,000 in donations and were £17,000,000 in debt). The 2010 general election saw the end of the brief Brown administration when the coalition government of Conservative/Lib-Dem came into power. Brown was succeeded by Ed Milliband as leader of the party and had the task of trying to reduce those huge debt numbers and gain notoriety once again. Since he became the leader he has managed to make membership rise hugely and is trying to help implement greater state intervention in an aid to change the balance of the UK economy away from its financial services.
It must be considered when viewing the achievements of Labour that in 1924, the Labour government was not in a position to push ahead with radical policies, as a minority in the house of commons a Conservative vote and abstinence of a liberal support would have brought the government down. A heavy reliance on the liberals existed in the first labour government which some argue restricted them heavily, policies such as nationalisation and disarmament had no chance of being implemented. Also due to its reliance on the Liberals its relationship with trade unions was damaged as they felt they were not being represented as well as promised. To labour this was a large problem as trade unions provided most of their funds, however to be too sympathetic to the unions would make it difficult to project an image of their party as genuinely national. Labour theorised that a gradual series of changes would be more beneficial to their aims, and using their rise to power in 24 as foundation stone to prove their capability in government, their socialist views were still present, however were a realistic take on Labours ability to bring change to Britain, which was at this point vastly limited.
In conclusion, before David Cameron came into power, the Conservatives were in the right side of politics were Thatcher left them. He brought the party closer to the centre. He changed people’s perception about the Conservative party because he changes a lot of things leaving few things unchanged. David Cameron definitely moved the party to the centre of politics.
This essay will address whether New Labour contained policies with which it wished to pursue, or was solely developed in order to win elections. It is important to realise whether a political party that held office for approximately 13 years only possessed the goal of winning elections, or promoted policies which it wished to pursue. If a party that held no substance was governing for 13 years, it would be unfair to the people. New Labour was designed to win elections, but still contained policies which it wished to pursue. To adequately defend this thesis, one must look at the re-branding steps taken by New Labour and the new policies the party was going to pursue. Through analysis, it will be shown that New Labour promoted policies in regards
The Labor party has recently celebrated its centenary in 1991, making it Australia’s oldest party. Labor first became a Federal Party when the former colonies of Australia federated in 1901. Separate labour parties had been established in the colonies during the formative decade of the 1890s. These parties were sponsored by the trade union movement, to help get sympathetic politicians elected to colonial parliaments. In Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, there were no strong and coherent labour parties until after federation. However, by 1900 strong labour parties had emerged in Queensland and New South Wales, quickly taking up a prominent role in Parliamentary politics. Australia's first labour government took office in Queensland in 1899. It lasted seven days. Although these early labour parties were strongly influenced by the trade unions, they were never confined to union membership and interests. Their earliest programs and platforms show that they sought the support of farmers, small businessmen and non-union employees including clerical and other white-collar workers. The Australian Labor Party entered federal politics at the first Commonwealth elections of 1901, when 16 Labor members were elected to the House of Representatives and eight to the Senate. They met before the first sitting of Parliament on 8 May 1901 and agreed to form a Federal Labor Party. J.C. (Chris) Watson, a Sydney printer and a former member of the NSW Parliament, was elected the first Leader of the Party.
Conservative Dominance in British Politics Between 1885 and 1902 During this period in history, it is clear to say that the conservatives dominated British politics. However, is it due to conservative strengths or liberal weaknesses? Although the weakness and the divisions within the liberal party helped the conservative cause, the latter party were dominant due to their unrivalled strength in politics. There were many reasons for these strengths, but it is safe to say that this was the main factor for supremacy in politics in the later 1800's.
The Liberal victory in General Election of 1906 has gone down in History for being one of the biggest landslides in modern UK politics, but it can be argued that it was more of a Conservative loss than a Liberal gain.
In the 1906 election, the number of seats won by Liberals increased from 184 to 377, in contrast the numbers of seats lost by the Conservatives went from 402 seats won in 1900 to 157 seats lost in the 1906 election, this represented the lowest number of seats held by a Conservative government since 1832. This dramatic reversal of constituencies held, is due to a number of reasons. An argument is that, due to some poor decisions made by the Conservative governments, they in fact contributed largely to the landslide result in the 1906 election. ‘They were in effect the architects to the own downfall.’
Was the electoral result a consequence of changing British values, or was it a result of Conservative blunders? There is no doubt that the various stratas of British society were all dissatisfied at some point with Conservative rule. The working classes in particular felt upset by the Conservatives over many issues. Chinese Slavery, the decision by the Conservative Government to send thousands of Chinese labourers to South Africa to work the goldmines to rebuild the economy after the Boer War angered many of the working class. To them this decision closed the chance of white emigration to South Africa... ...
Election results also suggest that the Liberal Government were not heading for failure but proceeding to continue strongly. I therefore contradict Dangerfield's theory that the Liberal government were doomed to failure prior to World War 1, suggesting that they were still a strong government. It would be easy to make assumptions looking back in hindsight as Dangerfield did, however I would argue that upon entering World War 1 the Liberal Party still appeared to be strong. Unfortunately the nature of the pre war years seem to accentuate the problems and cast a shadow over the achievements, Dangerfield is a clear critique of Liberal England and what it has to offer.
The next year the Tories had different periods experienced 5 different prime ministers all whom were of no good, therefore the party became very rocky and unstable. If finding a prime minister who was good for the job was not bad enough, across the waters major conflict was arousing in Ireland. (just give them potatoes.) Daniel O'Connell, with the support of the Catholic Association, won the county Clare election.
middle of paper ... ... d therefore the smaller parties can be considered to have very little effect on the overall political situation. In conclusion, the UK can still best be described as a two party system, provided two considerations are taken into account. The first is that Conservative dominance victories between 1979-97 was not a suggestion of party dominance and that eventually, the swing of the political pendulum will be even for both sides. This can perhaps be seen today with Labour's two landslide victories in 1997 and 2001.
Today, political parties can be seen throughout everyday life, prevalent in various activities such as watching television, or seeing signs beside the road while driving. These everyday occurrences make the knowledge of political parties commonly known, especially as the two opposing political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. Republican and Democrats have existed for numerous years, predominantly due to pure tradition, and the comfort of the ideas each party presents. For years, the existence of two political parties has dominated the elections of the president, and lower offices such as mayor, or the House of Representatives. Fundamentally, this tradition continues from the very emergence of political parties during the election of 1796, principally between Federalist John Adams and Anti-federalist Thomas Jefferson. Prior to this election people unanimously conformed to the ideas of one man, George Washington, and therefore did not require the need for political parties.1 However, following his presidency the public was divided with opposing opinions, each arguing the best methods to regulate the country. Ultimately, the emergence of different opinions regarding the future of the United States involving the economy, foreign relations, ‘the masses,’ and the interpretation of the Constitution, led to the two political parties of the 1790s and the critical election of 1800.
Scott, Len. "Labour and the Bomb: The First 80 Years." International Affairs (2006): 685-700. Business Source Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
... lack of a national vote tarnished their agenda throughout resulting in internal conflict. However they were consistently confronted with the dominance of the Government, Thatcher had at her disposal the police force whose power during the crisis resembled that of an army; furthermore the media became a government tool for the manipulation and disrepute of the NUM allowing public opinion to be shaped in favour of the government. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and the strikes defeat significantly weakened the British trade union movement. It was also seen as a major political victory for Margaret Thatcher and the conservative party, as the miners were defeated allowing Thatcher’s government to consolidate its fiscally conservative programme. Consequently the political power of the NUM and of most British trade unions was severely reduced.
“Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul” (Thathcer, 1981). Margaret Thatcher is undoubtedly one of the most renowned individuals in British history. Initially the first woman to be elected as party leader, who entered 10 Downing Street as the Prime Minister. Secondly her revolutionary policies and solid capitalist ideology shook Britain.