The Labour Party

Abstract

If the Conservative Party is the dominant political party in Britain, then Labour is its chief challenger. Although not nearly as strong as the Conservatives in terms of General Election victories and individual membership, the Labour Party has nonetheless attained significant success. The Labour government in the immediate post-war period, for example, implemented certain policies such as the introduction of the National Health Service which despite various reforms have become a firm part of the British political scene. Indeed, following Labour’s landslide victory in 1945, many saw it as the ‘natural’ party of government. This was the case again after the victory in 1966. Yet Labour has not now won a General Election since 1974 and even then, its parliamentary majority was so slim that it had ebbed away within 2 years. Moreover, in the last three general elections, it has failed to gain the share of the vote that it enjoyed when the Conservatives were returned to power in 1979 (see Appendix I). In many ways one might be tempted to argue that electorally, at least, Labour is a spent force. Yet, it continues to be the principal opposition party; it has attained impressive electoral success at the European and local levels and, in 1992, it seemed to have a realistic chance of forming a government.