Labour and the Civil Service: Governing in the Shadow of the Westminster Model

Abstract

This chapter sets out the extent to which the Labour Party, or more specifically its leadership, has been conditioned by the constitutional architecture of the British Parliamentary state. It has been argued that the overarching framework in the British political system is the Westminster model (Richards and Smith 2004). Despite the more recent criticism that the model has endured (see Chapter 1 and Marsh et al 2001, 2003; Evans 2003), its relevance has always been as an important ‘legitimising mythology’ of a particular elitist system of government, as well as shaping the actions of two key groups of actors in the British political system — ministers and civil servants. As Bevir and Rhodes (2003a: 26) observe: ‘…[it] could be argued that the Westminster model is the pervasive image shared by British politicians and civil servants.’KeywordsCivil ServantLabour MovementParty LeadershipLabour GovernmentLabour PartyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.