Grew out of a range of socialist groups from the end of the 19 th /beginning of the 20th century
These included the Independent Labour Party, Fabians and Social Democratic Federation
Socialist groups combined and worked with Trade Unions, in particular the Trades Union
Congress, who’s support facilitated the early stages of the Labour Party
The Labour Representation Committee was created in 1900, of which 94% of its membership
came from affiliated trade unions.
The name was changed to the Labour Party in 1906
The first Labour MP was Keir Hardy- MPs were not paid until 1912, and most of the working
class did not have the vote, so working class MPs were very rare
The party wrote a constitution in 1918 which included Clause IV, committing the party to
socialism (common ownership and redistribution of wealth)
The Representation of the People Act 1918 widened suffrage by abolishing practically all
property qualifications for men, which meant that the Labour Party could start to compete in
elections since it had significant support
Formed two minority governments in 1924 and 1929-1931 under Ramsey MacDonald
Old Labour and Social Democracy
Labour Government of 1945-1951 brought in major changes including the NHS (1948),
Nationalisation of industry (coal, steel, power, civil aviation), and a comprehensive welfare
system as a result of the Beveridge Report 1942
Old Labour were social democrats since they did not seek to remove capitalism altogether, but
instead manage it through Keynesian economics with the goal of full employment. They also
focused on equality of opportunity (e.g. through comprehensive schooling) rather than total
equality of outcome
Many of these ideas were accepted by the Conservative Party in the post-war consensus
Problems in the 1970s, such as inflation and trade union strikes during the Winter of Discontent
1978-1979, lead to a party defeat in 1979 to Thatcher.
After 1979, the party moved to the left under Michael Foot and drastically lost the 1983 election
with a highly left-wing manifesto often referred to as ‘the longest suicide note in history’.
New Labour and The Third Way
Neil Kinnock and John Smith fought to bring the Labour Party to the more moderate left of
centre position but failed to gain electoral success. After defeat in 1992, Tony Blair emerged as
leader and changed the party
Blair altered Clause IV, removing commitment to public ownership and redistribution of wealth
Third way embraced capitalism, moved focus away from being a purely working-class party and
sought a pragmatic approach to give equality of opportunity, and moved away from high taxes
for the rich.
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