Parliamentary Labour Party Research Articles

The Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921: The Response of the British Parliamentary Labour Party and Labour Press

The British Labour Party became increasingly aware after the First World War that it was potentially an alternative government in waiting. In opposition the party was generally supportive of Irish nationalism. It supported Home Rule and was adamantly opposed to the partition of Ireland contained in the 1920 Government of Ireland Bill. As the demands of Irish republicans became more radical and their tactics more extreme the Labour parliamentary leadership became wary of the electoral damage that could ensue if it was perceived by the British public that it was sympathetic to revolutionary Irish republicanism. Despite the fact that the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 was inconsistent with Labour party Irish policy cementing as it did the partition of Ireland as well as hardly being an exercise in “self-determination”, both Labour MPs in the debate on the Treaty as well as the Labour press supported the Treaty as it offered a way out of the Irish imbroglio and a return to rational class-based politics. The overriding concern of, in particular, the parliamentary leadership of the Labour Party by now was to prove to the British electorate that it could be as protective of British state interests as its rivals. The article argues that that this pragmatic about turn was adopted as many members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in particular were acutely aware that the party needed to be seen as patriotic, moderate and responsible if it was to stand any chance of being elected to power. The article traces this reversal in policy by reference to contemporary parliamentary debates as well as through the columns of the contemporary Labour Press. These are the only sources evidencing this change in Labour Party policy. Recent literature on the Labour Party in the 1920s does not address this issue. There is no reference to the Anglo-Irish Treaty either in the minutes of the PLP nor in the papers of the two major players in Labour Party policy on Ireland, the leader Ramsay MacDonald or J. H. Thomas, later Colonial Secretary in the first Labour Government with responsibility for Ireland. [Author]

How Michael Foot Won the Labour Party Leadership

This paper examines the voting motivations of Labour parliamentarians in the final parliamentary ballot of the Labour party leadership election of 1980. By constructing a data set of the voting behaviour of Labour parliamentarians and by determining the ideological disposition of the 1980 parliamentary Labour party (PLP) this paper examines the ideological disposition of the candidates' vis‐à‐vis their electorate, and offers a challenge to traditional interpretations of how and why Foot was elected. The traditional interpretation has sought for explanations as to how a right‐wing dominated PLP elected a left‐wing candidate. Whilst citing the traditional interpretations of the impact of the impending Electoral College, mandatory reselection and the assumed weaknesses of the Healey campaign, this paper argues that there was considerably more left‐wing sentiment within the 1980 PLP in terms of economic management, defence and the Common Market, than previously considered. As such this paper suggests that, taken with the impact of the other factors, the victory of Foot should not be seen as that surprising.

The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1963: Explaining the Unexpected Election of Harold Wilson

The failed attempts that Harold Wilson made to rest the Labour Party leadership from Hugh Gaitskell in 1960, and the Deputy Leadership from George Brown in 1962, had confirmed his reputation for disloyalty and divisiveness, and secured him the hostility of ‘social democratic right’. As they constituted the majority of the parliamentary Labour Party and ideology was assumed to be the dominant influence in any future party leadership contest, this seemed to undermine the chances of the ‘socialist left’ candidate Wilson succeeding Gaitskell. This paper examines how Wilson defied these assumptions and acquired the party leadership in 1963 following the death of Gaitskell. It attributes his success to the following. First, the fact that the minority left only put one candidate forward, ensured that they coalesced around one candidate. Second, the fact that the majority social democratic bloc fractured between Brown and James Callaghan gave Wilson a first ballot lead and second ballot momentum. Third, the naïve campaigning by Brown meant he was perceived to be a divisive candidate whilst Wilson, the devious, disloyal and defeated challenger to Gaitskell, was amazingly the unity candidate.

A Parliamentary Victory: The British Labour Party and Irish Republican Deportees, 1923

After the 1918 general election the Labour Party became the official opposition party at Westminster. In response to the growing Irish republican campaign to establish an independent Irish state the Labour Party had to re-assess its relationship with Irish nationalism. The Labour Party was now acutely conscious that it was on the verge of forming a government and was concerned to be seen by the British electorate as a responsible, moderate and patriotic government-in-waiting. Although it had traditionally supported Irish demands for home rule and was vehemently opposed to the partition of Ireland, the Labour Party became increasingly wary of any closer relationship with extreme Irish nationalism which it believed would only damage its rapidly improving electoral prospects. Therefore the Labour Party supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 even though it underpinned the partition of Ireland and sought to distance itself from any association with Irish republicanism as the new Irish Free State drifted into civil war. In early 1923 the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) alighted upon the new issue of the arrest and deportation without trial, to the Irish Free State, of Irish republicans living in Britain who were obviously British citizens. The attraction of this campaign for the Labour Party was that it enabled the party to portray itself as the defender of Irish people living in Britain without having to take sides in the Irish civil war. In addition the Labour Party was able to present itself as the protector of civil liberties in Britain against the excesses of an overweening and authoritarian Conservative government. One of the main reasons the issue was progressed so energetically on the floor of the House by the new PLP was because it now contained many Independent Labour Party (ILP) �Red Clydesiders� who themselves had been interned without trial during the First World War. Through brilliant and astute use of parliamentary tactics Bonar Law's Conservative government was forced into an embarrassing climb-down which required the cobbling together of an Indemnity Bill which gave tory ministers retrospective legal protection for having exceeded their authority. By any standard, it was a major achievement by a novice opposition party. It enhanced the party's reputation and its growing sophistication in the use of parliamentary tactics benefited it electorally at the next election which led to the first Labour government.

LABOUR LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS FROM WILSON TO BROWN: IDEOLOGICAL FACTIONS AND SUCCESSION PLANNING STRATEGIES

This paper examines the succession planning strategies deployed by ideological factions at the level of the parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in party leadership elections since 1963. The paper seeks to evaluate the short term tactics and long term strategies pursued by the ‘socialist left’ and the ‘social democratic right’ to enhance the prospect of their faction securing the lineage on the party leadership. The analysis will be undertaken by considering two key aspects of party leadership selection: first, ideological factions and the processes within which they determine, or fail to determine, who ‘their’ candidate should be; and, second, the importance of party leadership selection rules and the significance of the left’s commitment to shifting from a PLP ballot to an Electoral College based on their assumption that this would aid their succession planning. Incorporating analysis of each of the leadership contests since 1963, the paper suggests that the inability of the left to pass the threshold for participation in 2007 was a reflection of their tactical and strategic miscalculations in terms of succession planning dating back to 1980.

Ideological alignments within the parliamentary Labour Party and the leadership election of 1976

The orthodox interpretation of Labour Party historical analysis in the 1960s and 1970s has assumed the existence of a ‘majority’ social democratic right within the parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) prevailing over a ‘minority’ socialist left. In the limited academic work that exists on the Labour Party leadership election to determine the successor to Harold Wilson, it has become established that voting behaviour by Labour parliamentarians, and the subsequent election of James Callaghan over Michael Foot, was shaped by ideological alignments and was thus indicative of the enduring numeric strength of the social democratic right vis-a-vis the socialist left. This article offers a narrative of the succession contest and reappraises this traditional explanation. It then challenges the validity of the traditional explanation by questioning the viability of the orthodox one-dimensional left-right ideological divide. The article identifies the cross-cutting nature of ideological alignments within the PLP in 1976, and demonstrates that individual Labour MPs could not necessarily be placed in left wing (that is, economic expansionist, unilateralist and anti-common market) or right wing (that is, economic consolidators, multilateralist and pro-common market) pigeon holes. By analysing the attitudes and behaviour of all Labour parliamentarians across the three dominant ideological policy divides (that is, the economy, defence and the common market), the article will demonstrate that left wing thinking was actually predominant within the PLP on the economy, defence and the common market. Our revisionist account highlights how the candidature of Foot failed to secure the loyalty of ideological bedfellows, while the triumph of Callaghan was due to his capacity to appeal to those who did not necessarily share his ideological commitments.

`This is What Happens When You Don't Listen'

Labour's All-Women Shortlists (AWS), an example of an equality guarantee, have proved they can deliver. Labour's 98 women constitute 77 percent of all the women MPs in the House of Commons and 27.5 percent of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Moreover, half of all Labour's women MPs currently sitting in the House of Commons were selected on AWS, either in 1997 or 2005. Yet, rather than the success of AWS being a key story of the 2005 general election, it was the defeat of the AWS candidate, Maggie Jones, in the ultra-safe Labour seat of Blaenau Gwent that dominated media coverage. `This is what happens when you don't listen' said the successful, ex-Labour candidate, the late Peter Law: AWS lose votes. This article shows, however, that, Blaenau Gwent aside, there was no significant anti-AWS effect at the 2005 general election. AWS candidates largely suffered from being new candidates. Also, even though we cannot differentiate between an AWS effect and a differential sex effect for new and incumbent candidates, we find that neither is significant.

Socialism, Puritanism, Hedonism: The Parliamentary Labour Party's Attitude to Gambling, 1923-31

This article examines one aspect of the Parliamentary Labour Party's (PLP's) attitude to gambling between 1923 and 1931: its opposition to the taxation and legalization of working-class gambling on horses with street bookmakers. The first section explores the mixture of ethical socialism and religious and cultural Puritanism which led many Labour MPs to hold that gambling was wrong in principle and which informed the PLP's defence of prohibition. The second section identifies MPs who disagreed with the party's position: a minority itself divided between those who saw the issue as a distraction from more pressing political matters, and those who more systematically defended the working classes’ right to gamble. The latter group was culturally distinctive, appearing hedonistic in comparison with their parliamentary colleagues. The final section develops this distinction: in particular it suggests that the PLP's puritanical political culture informed, and was informed by, Labour's political ideology of ethical socialism. Culture and ideology met in opposition to gambling.

The Rebels: How Blair Mislaid his Majority * New Labour * Dirty Politics: New Labour, British Democracy and the Invasion of Iraq

The historian contemplating the Blair decade may seize upon three expressions which—some might say—define the former Prime Minister's contribution to British political life: ‘New Labour’, ‘control freakery’ and ‘Iraq’—analysed, conveniently, by the three books under review. In his account of British policy on Iraq, Kettell draws attention to the ‘all-pervasive strictures of party discipline’. Since most MPs are reliant on currying favour with their party for career advancement, ‘the result is to create mass ranks of MPs who are little more than docile lobby-fodder’ in the hands of the leadership' (Kettell: 17). Cowley expands a little: the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is full of ‘tame, compliant career politicians’, ‘gutless and feeble … terrified to follow their own consciences … led by the nose to vote for almost everything put before them … a flock of tame sheep’ (p. 1). Such, he notes, is the received wisdom, trotted-out regularly by commentators, accepted without demur throughout most of the media. As a description of Labour backbenchers, it suffers from a single fault: it is entirely false. Cowley has a story that he is determined to tell—and he tells it with panache and in a fluent and exuberant style: the belief that Labour MPs are a spineless butch of toadies bullied, cajoled and bribed into submission is an entirely without foundation. And he has marshalled the evidence to substantiate his case.

Dust, contractors, politics and silicosis: Conflicting narratives and the Queensland Royal commission into miners’ phthisis, 1911

In 1909–10 the Queensland Parliamentary Labor Party was rebuilding its strength from the Opposition benches after a damaging split with its former leader, William Kidston, who continued as premier in alliance with more conservative politicians. Reflecting the concerns of hard‐rock miners, the party campaigned to ameliorate the occupational disease silicosis (miners’ phthisis). In December 1910 a Royal Commission was appointed to enquire into this ‘evil’. This opportunity was squandered by the commission's conservative findings, the government's action in placing responsibility for dust suppression on tributers and contractors and the reluctance of mining unions to alienate the latter groups by making silicosis an industrial issue. This article attempts to recover employer and employee narratives that helped shape this pivotal event whose legacy cast a long shadow over the lives of Queensland mining families.

Parliament and Government, 2005–06: Reforms and Reflections

1THE role of parliament vis-a-vis the government has come under persistent discussion as we approach the final months of the 2005–06 session. The House of Lords has continued to inflict defeats on the government, with the current total exceeding the average per session between 1999–2000 and 2004–05. Parliamentary pressure has been evident in the changes to the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill as well as through the Modernisation committee’s investigation into the legislative process at Westminster. The government’s proposals to alter the relationship between Westminster and the National Assembly for Wales (NAW) have made their way through the legislative process and not without opposition. The most controversial aspect of the plans turned out to be the proposal to prevent candidates for the NAW from standing for election in constituencies as well as on party lists. But the legislation will also separate out the Welsh Assembly Government from the assembly itself and, at the same time, hand secondary legislative powers to the new Assembly Government. This would leave the assembly with a reduced role in a major aspect of the NAW’s activities. The imbalance of power between the government and the assembly in Wales could be altered by the proposed allocation of primary legislative powers to the NAW, but this is currently a long way off. 2 At Westminster, the government has continued to suffer rebellions in the Commons over recent months. Votes against the government among Labour MPs were on a large scale for the Education and Inspections Bill. At second reading, the government would not have won had Conservative MPs chosen to vote against the bill. At report stage, 69 Labour MPs rebelled. This amounted to the largest proportion of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) voting against the government on domestic legislation under Blair. 3 The third reading saw another record broken, with the largest rebellion by Labour MPs under a Labour administration at this stage of a government bill. 4 At the time of writing, this bill is in the House of Lords where the government has not yet suffered any defeats. There were also some minor rebellions on the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill at its report stage in May 2006. The small scale of these revolts surely results from the significant amendments

'The Masons' Candidate': New Welcome Lodge No. 5139 and the Parliamentary Labour Party

The claim made by Herbert Morrison and Hugh Dalton that Morrison was denied the leadership of the Labour Party in the 1935 election by the votes of Labour MPs who were members of a masonic lodge to which Arthur Greenwood belonged has been repeated by several historians, but without considering the character of the lodge. This article is a detailed examination of the genesis, membership and activities of the lodge in question, New Welcome No. 5139, consecrated in 1929. The documentation relating to the establishment of the lodge claimed that its purpose was to make Freemasonry more accessible to the working classes, but the pattern of lodge membership suggests that it was intended from the start as a 'class lodge' for Labour MPs and officials which would assist relations between the new Labour government and Freemasonry. Following the formation of the National Government, the lodge's character changed, and membership eventually became open to all men associated with the Palace of Westminster. It is argued that New Welcome Lodge had little impact on the 1935 leadership election. It is shown that the claim made by the anti-masonic writers Stephen Knight and Martin Short that Clement Attlee was a freemason misconstrues Dalton's memoirs; no evidence that Attlee was a freemason has ever been found.

Managing the Poor Bloody Infantry: The Parliamentary Labour Party under John Smith, 1992–94

Managing the Poor Bloody Infantry: The Parliamentary Labour Party under John Smith, 1992–94

Labor and Vietnam: A Reappraisal

Arguing from a Marxist perspective, this paper maintains that the shift in the Australian Labor Party's (ALP) Vietnam War policy in favour of withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam was largely brought about by pressure from the Anti-Vietnam War Movement (AVWM) and changing public opinion, rather than being a response to a similar shift by the United States government, as some have argued. The impact of the AVWM on Labor is often understated. This impact is indicated not just by the policy shifts, but also the antiwar rhetoric and the willingness of Federal Parliamentary Labor Party (FPLP) members to support direct action. The latter is a particularly neglected aspect of commentary on Labor and Vietnam. Labor's actions here are consistent with its historic susceptibility to the influence of radical social movements, particularly when in opposition. In this case, by making concessions to the AVWM, Labor stood to gain electorally, and was better placed to control the movement.

Labor and globalisation: from Keating to Latham

This paper documents the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party's (FPLP) approach to globalisation under four different leaders, starting with Paul Keating in the early 1990s, and ending at the early stages of Mark Latham's leadership in 2004. It argues that, despite some notable differences, there was a considerable degree of consistency in Labor attitudes to globalisation under successive party leaders: globalisation was seen as inevitable, irreversible, as beneficial for the majority of the population, and as destructive to states' capacity to intervene in the economy. The paper suggests that a number of factors explain Labor's continued support for globalisation in the face of growing public discontent, including the pressures of international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and big business, ideological factors, and comparatively low levels of economic growth, both in Australia and internationally.

Trade Unionism in 2003

In 2003 Australian trade unions continued the campaign to improve employees’ ability to balance work and family responsibilities. This, along with push for the introduction of ‘industrial manslaughter’ legislation, was the key industrial priority of the year. During the year, unions witnessed a political changing of the guard. There were no union tears when Workplace Relations Minister, Tony Abbott, departed the industrial relations scene. On the other side of politics, Mark Latham was elevated to the leadership of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party. While his candidature was not strongly supported by union leaders, Latham has won himself a number of union admirers since his election. Despite the enthusiasm for revitalising the union movement exhibited at the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ Organising Conference, statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released in 2003 showed that both union density and aggregate membership had slipped. The biggest ‘organising story’ of the year was the disintegration of the joint union campaign to reorganise the Pilbara, which in 2003 fell victim to competitive union pressure.

A Feminised Style of Politics? Women MPs in the House of Commons

One hundred and one Labour women MPs were returned to the House of Commons at the 1997 general election. Constituting 24 per cent of the Parliamentary Labour Party, they were, according to critical mass theory, a ‘tilted group’ and in a position to effect change. Drawing on 23 in-depth interviews with Labour women MPs first elected in 1997, this article establishes that many of them believe that women politicians practise politics in a feminised way. This claim is, however, premised upon gender rather than sex differences and party identity is also identified as an important determinant. The women MPs' perception that women's style is less legitimate than men's is explored through a discussion of the newly elected Labour women MPs' loyalty in parliamentary votes.

When sheep bark: the parliamentary Labour Party since 2001

When sheep bark: the parliamentary Labour Party since 2001

'Young, Ambitious and Eager': Stan Keon and the Victorian Public Service Association

Standish Michael Keon (1913-87) was one of the 'seven' defectors from the Federal Parliamentary Labour Party at the 1955 Split. His narrow defeat at the subsequent election terminated a decade-long parliamentary career (state and federal) during which he had earned a formidable reputation - some predicted that he had the stuff to attain the highest political office. Despite this reputation, the published literature on Keon is scarce. This paper fills part of that void by exploring his period as secretary of the Victorian Public Service Association between 1939 and 1949. It particularly focuses on his successful prosecution of the Association's campaign for an independent Public Service Board that brought him into direct conflict with Albert Dunstan, the longest serving Victorian Premier during the first half of last century. The paper shows that Keon's secretaryship acted as a springboard to entry into the Victorian parliament in 1945. It also illuminates his style as a trade union official, a style confrontational and compelling. Through this evocation of Keon as militant trade unionist, the paper offers a counterpoint to standard assumptions about the anticommunist breakaways of 1955.

How the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party Lost Its Way

Average working hours have grown steadily since 1983, to the point where we now have the second longest average working hours for full time employees in the OECD and the largest proportion of people working more than 50 hours a week ... There is widespread frustration in union ranks about politicians and political Parties. There is a justifiable feeling that much more could be done to assist working people and union organisation, particularly by Labor Governments.1