The Labour Party: Continuity and Change in the Making of ‘New’ Labour

260 Pages·2003·5.324 MB·English

by  Steven Fielding (auth.)

The Labour Party
Other books by the author
Workers’Worlds:Cultures and Communities in
Manchester and Salford,1880–1940
(edited with Andrew Davies)
Class and Ethnicity:Irish Catholics in England,1880–1939
The Wilson Governments,1964–70
(edited with Richard Coopey and Nick Tiratsoo)
Labour:Decline and Renewal
‘England Arise!’The Labour Party and Popular Politics in 1940s Britain
(with Peter Thompson and Nick Tiratsoo)
The Labour Party since 1951:‘Socialism’and Society
The Labour Party
Continuity and Change in the
Making of ‘New’ Labour
Steven Fielding
© Steven John Fielding 2003
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First published 2003 by
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ISBN 978-0-333-97392-9 hardback
ISBN 978-0-333-97393-6 ISBN 978-1-4039-4044-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4039-4044-5
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fielding,Steven,1961–
The Labour Party :continuity and change in the making of new labour /
Steven Fielding.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-333-97392-9 (cloth)
1.Labour Party (Great Britain)—History.I.Title.
JN1129.L32 F457 2002
324.24107(cid:2)09(cid:2)04—dc21 2002072127
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
This book is dedicated to Abby, Jack, Tom and Anna
in thanks for making an old man very happy
Contents
List of Tables and Figures xi
Preface xiii
Introduction:What is ‘New’Labour? 1
‘New’Labour 3
‘New’Labour and Thatcherism 5
Thatcherism Mark 2? 8
A Modernized Social Democratic Party? 10
Structure and Agency 13
Conclusion 16
1 Historicizing ‘New’Labour 18
A Trade Union Party,1900–18 18
Consolidating Second Party Status,1918–40 19
A National Party,1940–70 21
A Class Party Reborn,1970–83 24
Slow Road to Recovery,1983–94 26
Comparing the Past with the Present 26
Contrasting Impressions of Labour’s Past 28
Historical Interpretations 31
The Socialist School 32
The Social Democratic School 33
The Constraints School 33
Structure and Agency (Again) 34
Conclusion 36
2 The Liberal Connection 38
Social Democracy and Liberalism 39
The ‘Progressive’Dilemma 41
The Road to the SDP 45
The Impact of ‘New’Labour 48
In Government 50
A Waning of Enthusiasm 52
Cooperation Assessed 53
Conclusion 55
vii
viii Contents
3 From Clause Four to Third Way:
Labour’s Ideological Journey 57
The Nature of Ideology 58
Social Democracy and Capitalism 60
The Significance of Clause Four 62
Debating Capitalism 64
Equality 67
The Emergence of Neo-Revisionism 70
The Policy Review 72
Revising Clause Four 74
The Third Way 78
A Social Democratic Party? 82
Conclusion 83
4 Accommodating or Shaping? Labour’s
Electoral Dilemma 85
The Impact of Social Change 86
The Party’s Impact 89
A Contested Strategy 90
The Impact of Thatcherism 93
Responding to Thatcherism 95
The Lessons of 1992 96
The Birth of ‘New’Labour 98
Labour’s ‘Landslide’Assessed 102
Maintaining the Coalition 104
Finding the Right Language 105
The Heartlands 106
A Change in Emphasis 108
What Did the People Want? 110
Tax and the 2001 Campaign 111
Public Services:The New Agenda? 112
Conclusion 114
5 Becoming Blair’s Party? Labour Organization 116
Party Organization and Political Theory 117
The Road to 1918 119
The Members 121
Uncertain Sovereignty 123
The Crisis of Control 125
Restoring Autonomy 127
Contents ix
A Partnership for Power? 129
Debating Change 132
Assessing the New Regime 135
Selecting Candidates 137
A Twenty-First-Century Party? 141
Conclusion 143
6 Managing the Economy 145
The Context for Economic Policy-Making 147
The Importance of Labour 148
Globalization 150
Stability 151
Pursuing ‘Prudence’ 154
The EU and the Economy 155
Micro-Economic Policy 157
Competitiveness 158
The ‘Soft Approach’ 161
Trade Unions and the Workplace 162
Fairness at Work 165
The Market and the State 167
The Post Office 169
The Tube 170
The Railways 171
Conclusion 175
7 Advancing Equality? 177
The Thatcher Inheritance 178
‘New’Labour and Equality 179
Real Equality of Opportunity 181
A ‘Modernized’Welfare State 183
Not Taxing but Spending 187
The Importance of Public Services 189
Health 190
Education:The Key Public Service 192
Higher Education 195
Further Education 196
The New Deal 197
Other Inequalities 199
The Impact of Policy 201
Conclusion 204
x Contents
Conclusion:The Death of ‘New’Labour? 206
The Argument Underlined 206
The 2001 General Election 210
The Death of ‘New’Labour? 213
Conclusion 216
Guide to Further Reading 218
References 222
Index 239