Leader Of Labour Party Research Articles

Neil Kinnock and Robert Maxwell: how Kinnock changed his perception when Maxwell looked to the Mirror

In 1984, the leader of the UK's Labour Party, Neil Kinnock, was caught in a dilemma. He supported the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, a Left pressure group committed to press democracy...

Electing the Leader: The British Labour Party's Electoral College

This article uses a principal-agent model to explore how leadership selection rules affect the autonomy and security of tenure of the British Labour party's leader. It examines Labour's electoral college, which was intended to enable activists and trade unions to hold the leader to account. However, it had the reverse effect, increasing leaders' autonomy. Nomination rules frustrate activist attempts to instigate leadership contests, while a range of ‘transaction costs’ rule out anything but the most serious challenges to incumbents. The college was originally dominated by trade unions because block voting enabled union leaders to determine the trajectory of contests. The introduction of ‘one member–one vote’ curtailed the power of union leaders, shifting power mainly to MPs. The conceptual tools deployed can be used to analyse leadership selection mechanisms in other parties.

The Irish Labour Party leadership election, 2002: A survey of party members

The Irish Labour Party leadership election, 2002: A survey of party members

From Villain to Partner: British Labour Party Leaders, France and International Policy During the Phoney War, 1939-40

For much of the interwar period, the Labour Party's international policy had been characterized by a profound dislike and distrust of France. During the Phoney War, however, Labour policy towards France underwent a transformation, and by early 1940 Labour leaders openly advocated the establishment of a permanent Anglo-French alliance. This transformation merits study for it had important implications for Labour's international policy in general, and the issue of alliances and the postwar organization of European security in particular. These implications, moreover, cast doubt on the usefulness of terms such as `realistic' or `idealistic' that are frequently used to describe Labour's international policy.

Increasing educational opportunity

The time has come to question the easy assumption made by politicians, particularly the present government, that education -- implicitly compulsory -- is, of itself, a good thing. Education, education, education has become more, more, more. Not more money (or not much), which would be welcome, but more inclusion, more targets, more qualifications. De facto an attempt is being made to raise the school leaving age to 18. But why should more education, irrespective of what it consists of, be thought desirable? It is not difficult to justify the requirement for all young people to be in school to age 11. Without a good grounding in literacy and numeracy, and without internalising the rules of interaction with others, no one is going to get as much out of life as they could. It is also reasonable to require young people, whether they want to or not, to experience the main means by which human beings have been able to make sense of the world. Life is ineffable. Different ways of establishing what we can accept as true, organised as subjects, give us a basis for coming to terms with our existence. A good case can be made for a national curriculum to, say, age 14. But thereafter? If early education means anything at all, young people should become increasingly clear about who they are, what they can do, and where they want to go. They should be able to choose on the basis of their abilities, interests and aspirations. If, after having engaged with a subject for long enough to have become familiar with what it has to offer, it does nothing for them, they should be able to give it up and do other things. Upper secondary education should be based on opportunities not impositions. Currently about 50,000 pupils a day truant. The government sees this as a massive problem. As part of its inclusion policy, it has recently pledged(1) more money for police sweeps to round them up. This comes on top of more attendance officers, learning mentors, pupil referral units, and `truancy buster' awards for schools that succeed in cutting truancy. It is being tough on truancy, but what of the causes of truancy? Surely, instead of trying to stamp it out, the government should be seeking to find out why so many young people are literally voting with their feet. The nub of the issue could be the heavy academic bias of the education system. Education in England (and the countries that followed us) has had a distinctive shape, highly selective and highly specialised. In the period after the Second World War, up to about a quarter of the age group was picked out by tests at 11 for a grammar school education. On the strength of tough examinations at ages 16 and 18, about a fifth of those progressed to university, where they were able to take a subject to its limits or prepare for a profession like medicine which is dependent on a high level of academic understanding. These arrangements worked wonderfully well for those selected and succeeding, since the best jobs and the leading positions opened up to them as graduates. But the other 95 per cent or so, cast aside at various points, had to sort out their lives as best they could. Successive governments have therefore been wholly right to seek to extend opportunity, but mainly wrong in the ways they have gone about it. The crucial mistake was perhaps that of Harold Wilson when as leader of the Labour Party in 1963 he promised `a grammar school education for all'. This deeply compromised Anthony Crosland's attempt, as Secretary of State in 1965, to heal the sharp 11-plus split by asking LEAs (he could only ask) to reorganise on comprehensive lines. The essential aim was further undermined by a failure to rethink the qualifications along with the schools. Once more practical education missed out as it had done following the 1944 Act when few technical schools were built. Comprehensive schools became diluted grammar schools. The motives were understandable. …

Mobilisation and Class Struggle: A Reply to Gall

AbstractWhen I began writing Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilization, Collectivism and Long Waves during the mid-1990s, die leadership of die British trade-union movement had already begun its romance with the class-collaborationist ideology of ‘social partnership’, successor to the ‘new realism’ of the 1980s. The Labour Party leadership was already moving to the right and was well on the road to consummating its marriage with neoliberalism, epitomised most starkly by Tony Blair's positive endorsement of two decades of Conservative anti-trade-union law. What remained of the world Communist movement was still reeling from the earth-shattering events of 1989. These developments exerted a growing influence amongst the intellectual community which studies ‘industrial relations’ (employment relations might now be a more appropriate term). Both in Britain and the US, the intellectual agenda shifted towards labour flexibility and competitiveness, variously represented in the literature as the study of labour-management ‘co-operation’, ‘social partnership’ or ‘human resource management1. Rethinking Industrial Relations was a re-assertion of the continuing relevance of Marxist theory at a time when it had become distinctly unfashionable, and it is fitting that the extended review in a recent issue of this journal should have been written by another Marxist active in the field of industrial relations.

Social Democracy and Labour Politicsin Britain,1892-1911

Before the First World War European socialist parties developed in a social democratic tradition inspired by Marx. The British, however, went their own way and produced a unique and distinctive labour politics; the major organizations representing the political labour movement were the Independent Labour Party and the Labour Party. Despite this, Britain did have a party of the European type: the Social Democratic Federation (SDF). This article sets out to analyse the political differences between these organizations and to study the relationships between them. In particular, the prevailing view among contemporaries and historians that the SDF was mistaken in abandoning the labour alliance in 1901 is questioned. British social democrats adopted a more subtle and complex stance towards labour than is usually allowed. They often worked amicably with local labour activists, playing prominent roles as members of local labour representational committees, while attacking the Labour Party leadership for its moderation and closeness to the Liberals. Their contradictory stance gave them enhanced credibility among militants at a time of realignment in British politics, and allowed them to continue to influence the Labour Party from within.

News Content and Effects in an Historic Campaign

In the 1994 national election, parties and politicians in the Netherlands were, for the first time, confronted with a dual broadcasting system. Alongside the public service broadcasting channels, which by law and tradition had functioned as a politically balanced platform for political communication, a new commercial network had joined the broadcasting landscape. The commercial newscast, covering its first campaign, was expected to adopt a pragmatic approach, while the public service news was expected to continue a sacer dotal approach. We thus expected to find substantial differences between the two channels in the content of election news. Observation study and content analysis showed that there w ere fewer differences between the two channels than expected in the presentation of the election campaign. The public newscast showed an increasing trend toward reporting campaigns as hoopla and horse race and away from political substance. The commercial news did exhibit some features of a pragmatic approach but devoted very little attention to opinion polls. The differences between the campaign coverage of the two channels had little consequence for voters' perceptions of the candidates. An effects study indicated that being a regular watcher of either daily TV newscast had a significant positive effect on changes in the image of or trust in Labor party leader Wim Kok. As a consequence of the advancing media logic, the expectation is that the differences between the campaign cover age of both newscasts will be even less marked in the future.

A history of the British Labour Party

Introduction - Creation and Early Years 1900-1914 - The Surge to Second-Party Status 1914-22 - The Party of MacDonald and Henderson 1922-31 - Remaking the Party? 1931-39 - The Impact of the Second World War 1939-45 - The Attlee Governments 1945-51 - Searching for a New Direction 1951-64 - Wilson in Power 1964-70 - Drift to Defeat? 1970-79 - Disaster and Recovery? 1979-92 - Conclusion - Appendix 1: Seats Won at General Election 1900-92 - Appendix 2: Labour Party Leaders - Appendix 3: Labour Cabinets - Bibliography

Social Policy Digest

A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that whilst the income of the poorest tenth of society fell by 18 per cent in real terms between 1979 and 1992 (after housing costs), their expenditure rose by 14 per cent. In a separate report on changes in individuals' incomes over time, the IFS found significant movement in and out of the poorest sections of society between 1991 and 1992. The latest edition ofHouseholds Below Average Incomeshowed that real net income rose by an average of 38 per cent (after housing costs) between 1979 and 1992/93, but fell by 17 per cent for the bottom tenth of the population (24:3/95,1.1). The narrowing of the gap in the north–south divide has halted, but a report on the geography of poverty explores many other divisions between and within areas of the UK. The report of the Commission headed by Lord Dahrendorf called for a new investment strategy and benefits structure, as well as measurement of social and environmental conditions as part of an annual audit of ‘wealth’. Tony Blair, the Labour Party leader, promised a fundamental review of the social security system once in power.

The Labour Party Leadership and Deputy Leadership Elections of 1994

The Labour Party Leadership and Deputy Leadership Elections of 1994

Testing party democracy: The British labour party's leadership election 1994

Keith Alderman looks at the 1994 Labour's one member, one vote (OMOV) leadership election ‐ ‘the most exhaustive consultative exercise ever conducted by any British party’ ‐ and finds that all things considered it went remarkably smoothly

Nurses pay tribute to John Smith.

England's Chief Nursing Officer has paid tribute to Labour Party leader John Smith, who died last week.

The Labour Party Leadership and Deputy Leadership Elections of 1992

The Labour Party Leadership and Deputy Leadership Elections of 1992

Television and the communications revolution

I n the wake of disclosures about Senator Joseph R. Biden plagiarizing a speech by British Labour party leader Neil Kinnock, the New York Times, on September 27, 1987, contemplated the at-least temporary end of Biden's presidential aspirations. The Times pointed out that in the past thirty years television has fundamentally changed the structure of political campaigns. In the 1950s, indiscretions like Biden's and Gary Hart's would have probably been ignored by the media, taking their cue from party leaders. Now matters are different. The media have taken over the job of judging candidates, and television tapes from vast libraries actually showing Biden aping Kinnock in a New Hampshire living room were powerful images indeed. In addition, television comedians are now in a position to destroy political candidates. As the Times pointed out:

Philosophy ? Religion ? Politics: Borochov, Bogdanov and Lunacharsky

The awakening of interest in A. A. Bogdanov-Malinovsky's oeuvre, theories and activities has lasted about two decades,1 but was and still is very fruitful. This growth of interest has given rise to plenty of studies that have contri buted to our knowledge of Bogdanov's relations with Lenin and Plekhanov,2 his attitude toward and inferences from the 1905 revolution,3 and his stand point in the context of the revolutionary events from February to October 1917.4 The relevance of Bogdanov's theories is mentioned in comparative studies of Gramsci's contribution to Marxist theory5 and by scholars inter ested in the ProletkuVt policies6 following the Bolshevik revolution. The variety of writings concerning the extent of Bogdanov's accomplish ments will restore his place in the history of Russian philosophy and Soviet social thought. We know a great deal of the history of Bogdanov's rivalry with Plekhanov and Lenin, but little was done, to my present knowledge, to reveal Bogdanov's influence outside his Party and faction (Vpered). Due to some theoretical disagreements and factional splits among Marxists in Israel,7 a new direction of "Bogdanovist" influences has been explored and we have found some surprising political and ideological implications arising from his theoretical influence. This paper deals briefly with several interpretations given by Ber Borochov, the leader of the Jewish Marxist-Zionist labour party ? Poalei-Zion ["Workers of Zion" (Palestine)], who elaborated an original theory of the "national question"8 on the basis of the "Bogdanovist approach" to historical material ism.9 Ber Borochov also wrote a critical analysis of A. Lunacharsky's theory of religion10 based on Bogdanov's empiriomonist theory,11 and on his own "virtualism". Borochov's attitude toward the achievements of the February revolution and his reservations about the Bolshevik policy of pushing forward the revolution were similar to those of Bogdanov.12 His experience abroad and the new political realities on the eve of World War I brought Borochov, in his contributions to the Third Convention of the Jewish Social-Democratic Workers Party (Poalie-Zion) in Russia (in Kiev, August 1917), to clarify and redefine some of his former theoretical positions.

LABOUR PARTY COMMITTEE ELECTIONS AND THE LABOUR LEADERSHIP, 1945–1976

ABSTRACTThis article explores the relations between elections to the post of Labour Party leader and elections to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee and Parliamentary Committee. The leadership elections of 1955, 1963 and 1976 are analyzed in the light of the candidates' committee election records, and brief reference is made to the 1935 leadership contest. The records of all committee election candidates during the period 1945–75 are categorized, and the most important ones are discussed in the context of the Party leadership.Some tentative hypotheses and conclusions are reached about the possibility of predicting leadership election results and the future performance of a Party leader on the basis of earlier committee election records. Reference is made to the political and historical background of the elections. A number of questions are formulated for possible exploration by political historians and biographers.

Personality and Political Leadership

Students of society have long been interested in the phenomenon of leadership and puzzled by the problem of why some people emerge as leaders rather than others. This article will approach the problem mainly in terms of political leadership in the contemporary nation-state, ours in particular. At one time it was generally thought that those who become leaders do so by virtue of their possession in superior degree of certain personal traits-such as stamina, decisiveness, composure-which make it their fate to reach positions of leadership in their organizations or societies. This has been loosely labeled the theory of leadership. Social science research in the twentieth century seemed for a while to invalidate it. This research gave rise to what has been called or the view that the nature of the group's situation at a given time predetermines what traits are likely to bring a certain individual to the fore as the leader and what traits will impede such an outcome in others. According to situationism, qualities making for leadership success in one set of circumstances, might militate against it in another. For example, it could be argued that Winston Churchill's party was defeated in the British national elections held soon after the end of World War II in Europe because the change from a war situation to one of peacetime made the characteristics of Clement Atlee, the Labour party's leader, more appealing to the electorate than those that had earlier propelled Churchill to power as an ideal war leader for embattled Britain. The pendulum's swing from the great man theory to situationism was fol-

Labor Movement Parties & Inflation: Contrasting Responses in Britain & Sweden

Martin distinguishes the response of two democratic labor parties to the problem of inflation. Swedish policy seemed to combine technical effectiveness with political viability (maintaining organized labor support for the labor party) more successfully than British policy. Yet the British Labour party seemed not to learn a lesson from its Swedish coreligionists. The essay is helpful not only concerning strategies for controlling inflation, but concerning the policy process and the value of comparative analysis in eliciting alternatives to the policy actually chosen. Martin finally points-however tentatively-an accusing finger at the British Labour party leadership.

Trade Councils during the First World War

The first World War was an important period in the history of the British trade union and labour movement. It is well known that at a national level the leaders of the trade unions were consulted by the government to a greater extent than ever before, and that the signing of the Treasury Agreements represented a recognition of their importance, and made them partners in the prosecution of the war. Labour Party leaders also became members of the administration, thus confirming once and for all that they were “fit to govern”. These were significant developments for the working class movement, but they did not take place without sharpened disagreements within the movement and the growth of increasingly radical political and social attitudes. The purpose of this article is to show that at a local level there were almost precisely parallel developments for the working class movement during the war years. There was a similar accession to power, if more limited, and to prestige in the local community, if often more grudgingly conceded. At the same time there was a growth of general disillusionment with the work which was undertaken, and by the end of the war, an increasingly militant attitude on trade union and general political questions.