Article Outline
Labour Party (United Kingdom), political party in the United Kingdom, organized in its present form in 1906. The Labour Party began, and for much of its history remained, dependent on the support of the British trade unions. This support was especially important at critical times in the party’s history, such as during the two world wars and after the electoral setback of 1931. The Labour Party has been the major party on the left wing of British politics since the crumbling of the Liberal Party between 1918 and 1924. Its greatest electoral support has come from the older industrial areas and from cities. After its poor electoral performance in the 1983 general election, the party’s policies and organization were overhauled and “modernized” under the successive leaderships of Neil Kinnock, John Smith, and Tony Blair.
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Founding and Early Development
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The party originated in 1900, when the Trades Union Congress at Plymouth adopted a resolution calling for a conference of trade unions, as well as socialistic, cooperative, and other labor bodies, to consider the problem of securing adequate parliamentary representation for labor. The conference, held in 1906, created a committee, known as the Labour Representation Committee, under the secretaryship of the British statesman James Ramsay MacDonald. Its objective was to secure the election of candidates identified with labor interests or to support candidates sympathetic to labor. The committee was composed primarily of representatives of the trade unions, but the Fabian Society and the Independent Labour Party were each given one representative on the executive committee. The Labour Party officially formed under its present name after the 1906 general election, when 29 members of Parliament joined the small independent Labour group in the House of Commons. In 1924 Labour formed a short-lived government from January to November. The party regained power in June 1929, but its leaders were absorbed into a coalition government in August 1931. This was followed by a series of governments formed by the Conservative Party until the end of World War II in 1945.
Party leader Clement Attlee led Labour to a remarkable victory in May 1945. The Labour government immediately undertook a broad program of socialization. The Bank of England, the iron-and-steel industry, railroads, coal mines, and other industries were nationalized; and legislation providing for a comprehensive, cradle-to-the-grave social security program was enacted. Most significant of the social programs was the establishment of the National Health Service. The Labour Party remained in power following elections in February 1950, with a majority of only 10 seats. Emergence of a left-wing faction within the party weakened Prime Minister Attlee’s tenuous control of Parliament. The popular support of Labour declined, enabling the Conservatives to win by a slim margin in the elections of October 1951. The Labour Party, headed by Harold Wilson, regained control of the government by a margin of four seats in the elections of October 1964, and expanded its majority to 97 seats in the elections of 1966. Labour lost in 1970 and remained in opposition until March 1974, when a minority government was formed by Wilson. New elections in October gave the party a scant majority.
Wilson resigned both as party leader and prime minister in April 1976 and was succeeded by his foreign secretary, James Callaghan. The Callaghan government lasted until May 1979, when the Conservatives won elections after Labour had lost a no-confidence motion by one vote. In 1980 Callaghan retired as party chief; his successor was Michael Foot, a leader of the party’s left wing. The following year, new rules for selection of the leader were adopted at the party conference. Labor unions, rather than local party organizations and members of Parliament, secured the largest role in the selection process. This change split the party; four of its most respected members withdrew to form a new Social Democratic Party (later known as the Social Democratic and Labour Party). Divided by this defection and internal squabbles, Labour lost resoundingly in the general elections of June 1983. A decisive British military victory in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) also played a major role in this election. Foot then resigned the leadership post and was succeeded by Neil Kinnock.
In the late 1980s, with increasing tension within the Conservative government, the fortunes of Labour appeared to be rising, but the 1987 elections did not return the party to power. The replacement of Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in November 1990 by John Major reversed the upturn in Labour popularity, and Kinnock was succeeded by John Smith. Following Smith’s death in 1994, Tony Blair was elected party leader.
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Majority Party Under Blair
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Under Blair’s leadership, Labour’s fortunes improved dramatically in 1995 and 1996, as a nationwide recession coupled with several scandals brought Conservative popularity to a new low. At the same time, Blair worked to reorganize the party, moving more toward the political center and reducing its dependence on labor and trade unions that had long been influential in party policy. “New Labour,” as the party became known, offered ideas similar to those of the Conservatives with regards to monetary policy and government spending. However, other policies—most specifically the party’s advocacy of closer relations and cooperation with the European Union (EU)—differed greatly from the Conservative platform.
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