I.

Introduction

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.

II.

Founding and Early Development

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.

III.

Years in Opposition

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.

IV.

Majority Party Under Blair

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.

A.

First Term

Labour’s popularity grew, and in the national elections of May 1997, the party was swept into power in a landslide victory over the Conservatives, garnering almost 45 percent of the vote and coming away with 419 seats and a 179-seat majority in the 659-seat House of Commons. The Conservatives had their worst showing in over 150 years, receiving only 33 percent of the vote and finishing with 165 seats, barely half of their original total. At age 43, Tony Blair became the youngest prime minister in 185 years. His government immediately put forward an ambitious package of reforms, which included the banning of handguns, reforms to the welfare and health-care systems, and the establishment of separate parliaments for Scotland and Wales.

In Labour’s first year it succeeded in putting through many of these reforms. Its first budget cut business taxes and imposed new taxes on liquor, tobacco, and gasoline. The chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, gave the Bank of England the right to modify interest rates, giving it more control over the British economy. The government’s welfare-to-work program placed many unemployed workers in jobs, but when welfare benefits to single mothers were cut, the government was harshly criticized. And despite promises to improve the National Health Service, waiting lists for hospital care lengthened dramatically throughout 1997 and into 1998.

The Labour government instituted a number of important constitutional reforms during its first year. Scotland and Wales passed referendums to establish legislatures in their regions—a parliament in Scotland and an assembly in Wales. Voters in London also passed a referendum that would allow them to elect a mayor and assembly to govern the city, which had been without a mayor since 1986. The European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into the British constitution; this gave British courts the authority to make decisions concerning human rights in accordance with the convention that would overturn British parliamentary law.

B.

Second Term

In the June 2001 national elections the Labour Party achieved its second consecutive landslide victory over the Conservatives. It emerged from the elections with 413 seats in the House of Commons and a 167-seat majority. Under Blair, who won a second term as prime minister, the party campaigned mainly on a pledge to improve the quality of public services, including health, education, and transportation. Although victory was achieved with the smallest number of votes polled by a winning party at a general election since 1929, the result reflected what voters saw as Labour’s successful handling of the economy. The Conservatives’ decision to campaign largely on the issue of a single European currency, to the exclusion of core issues such as health and education, led them to lose much of the center ground to Labour.

Labour’s second term was largely dominated by foreign policy issues. After the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, Blair gave enthusiastic support to the so-called “war on terrorism” of U.S. president George W. Bush. Blair’s decision to support Bush in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 did not gain widespread support in the British Parliament. More than 100 Labour members of Parliament refused to back a war that was not officially sanctioned by the United Nations.

C.

Third Term

In the general election of May 2005, Blair led the Labour Party to its first-ever third consecutive victory. The party won 356 seats in the 646-seat House of Commons, giving it a strong, but substantially reduced, majority. Opposition parties attacked Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq and questioned his personal integrity in the matter, but public discontent with the issue apparently did not outweigh general satisfaction with Labour’s management of the economy.

Dissatisfaction with the Labour Party grew during Blair’s third term. Contributing to this dissatisfaction were the ongoing war in Iraq and Blair’s failure to fulfill promises to improve healthcare and education. In May 2007 Blair announced that he would step down as party leader and prime minister on June 27, after a decade in office. The Labour Party chose Gordon Brown, chancellor of the exchequer since 1997, to succeed Blair. Although the dour Brown lacked Blair’s charisma, his management of the economy had brought Britain a decade of economic growth.