Choosing a Leader: Party Leadership Contests in Britain from Macmillan to Blair

259 Pages·1996·14.16 MB·English

by  Leonard P. Stark

CHOOSING A LEADER

Choosing a Leader
Party Leadership Contests in Britain from
Macmillan to Blair
Leonard P. Stark
AA
jgjm First published in Great Britain 1996 by
W MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN 0-333-63928-6 hardcover
ISBN 0-333-65336-X paperback
^m First published in the United States of America 1996 by
^ ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBNO-312-12824-X
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stark, Leonard P.
Choosing a leader : party leadership contests in Britain from
Macmillan to Blair / Leonard P. Stark,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-312-12824^X
1. Political parties—Great Britain. 2. Political leadership-
-Great Britain. 3. Great Britain—Politics and government—1945-
I. Title.
JN1121.S73 1996
324.241 '009*045—dc20 95-36940
CIP
© Leonard P. Stark 1996
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London W1P9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96
Printed in Great Britain by
Ipswich Book Co. Ltd, Ipswich, Suffolk
In loving memory of my grandparents
Henry and Berdie Stark

Contents
List of Tables viii
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgements x
1 Introduction 1
2 Conservatives 10
3 Labour 36
4 Third Parties 67
5 Candidates 81
6 Campaigns 106
7 Outcomes 124
8 Impact 141
9 A 'Silly Season Story'? 163
10 Postscript: Put Up and Shut Up 167
Appendix: Leadership Selection Rules as of
31 December 1994 173
Notes and References 180
Bibliography 233
Index 236
VII
List of Tables
1.1 Leadership Contests Since 1963 4
2.1 Conservative Party Leaders Since 1900 14
2.2 Summary of Alternatives Considered by 1964-5 Committee 22
3.1 Labour Party Leaders Since 1906 38
3.2 Voting at the Wembley Conference 56
4.1 Liberal Party Leaders Since 1900 69
4.2 Social Democratic Party Leaders 78
4.3 Liberal Democrat Party Leader 80
5.1 Political Experiences of Leadership Candidates 82
5.2 Candidate Experiences: Averages 85
5.3 Average Candidate Experiences by Selection System 86
5.4 Average Number of Candidates by Party, Party Status,
and Selection System 97
5.5 Candidates: Motivation 99
5.6 Selection Systems and Decisions to Stand 104
6.1 Did Campaigns Matter? 118
6.2 Campaign Style and Outcome for 'Win' Candidates in
Elections by MPs 123
7.1 Strategic Concerns Involved in Party Leadership Contests 126
7.2 Strongest Candidates on Three Criteria 132
7.3 Selection Systems and Likely Winners 133
8.1 Empirical Impact of Conservative and Labour
Contests Since 1963 159
8.2 Empirical and General Impact of Leadership Contests
Since 1963 161
8.3 Overall General Impact by Party and Selection System 162
Vlll
List of Figures
6.1 Length of Campaigns 121
6.2 Degree of Campaign Conspicuousness 122
7.1 Hierarchy of Party Strategic Goals 125
8.1 Impact of 1963 Labour Contest 143
8.2 Impact of 1963 Conservative Contest 144
8.3 Impact of 1965 Conservative Contest 146
8.4 Impact of 1975 Conservative Contest 147
8.5 Impact of 1976 Labour Contest 148
8.6 Impact of 1980 Labour Contest 150
8.7 Impact of 1983 Labour Contest 151
8.8 Impact of 1988 Labour Contest 153
8.9 Impact of 1989 Conservative Contest 155
8.10 Impact of 1990 Conservative Contest 157
8.11 Impact of 1992 Labour Contest 158
8.12 Impact of 1994 Labour Contest 160
IX