The year is 1997. After 18 years of unchallenged Conservative dominance, New Labour is taking Britain by storm. Dynamic and modern, New Labour thrust a new kind of politics into the public sphere; one that was cool. Long gone were boring, stale Conservative politics. This excitement for a new kind of Labour party, one that was modern, business friendly and centre-left, was only heightened by the lore and drama surrounding Tony Blair (and Gordon Brown). Subsequently, on the 1st of May 1997, Labour would go on to win a huge 179-seat majority in parliament. Blair, coining the term ‘New Labour’ in 1994, certainly sought to set his party apart from previous Labour governments. But in reality, how revolutionary, how ‘new’, was his New Labour?
New Labour was certainly ideologically different from previous Labour governments. It was much further right than the Labour party had ever been before, shunning some of Labour’s most sacred traditions; Blair advocated for low taxation and a free-market economy. This new ideological stance was dubbed, ‘The Third Way’: a blend of centre-right economic policies and centre-left socialist values. The right-wing economic ideology that the Third Way promoted meant that New Labour was much more pro-business than their predecessors which aided economic growth, meaning the welfare system could be adequately funded, enhancing socialist justice. This is a far cry from what Labour was before Blair. Pre-New Labour, the party was very much thought of as a high-tax, anti-business party. This isn’t to say that New Labour shifted all the way to the right, not at all. The socialist values were still there, but the way in which these ends were achieved within the Labour party was completely revolutionised.
The new version of Labour that was gained through modernisation of the party was also a huge change. The party was modernised not just through their image, though this was important, but through actual changes to the party itself. One of the most famous changes that Blair instigated was the removal of Clause IV of the Labour Constitution, moving the party further away from its purely socialist ideology. Clause IV read: “To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distributionand exchange…” Stripping the constitution of this communism-tinged clause allowed Labour to cast off the shackles of this particularly left-wing ideal, transforming its image and structure into a more centrist, electorally favourable party.
Some of the cynical among you may say that this was all a guise to gain electoral support. However, this was not a malign desire for Blair and the party to have. In order for parties to take positive action in society, electoral support is essential. By 1997, the partisan divide that once dictated who Brits should and shouldn’t vote for was shrinking, and it still is today. Through Blair’s modifications, New Labour became a catch-all party, not just one for the working class. Labour now stood a fighting chance of actually getting into power with a meaningful majority. This demographic shift was New Labour’s biggest achievement, a party that had so long relied on one set of voters (the working class), could now appeal to society as a whole. It is certainly this widening of Labour’s demographic that led to their huge electoral success in 1997.
New Labour certainly did take advantage of this power granted to them by the electorate. Blair and Brown oversaw devolution of power to Scotland and Wales, House of Lords reform, incorporation of the Human Rights Act into law, the creation of the UK Supreme Court, introduction of a national minimum wage, granting independence to the Bank of England and giving paid paternity leave for the first time in the UK. I could go on. These were all successful in their own right, and with the exception of Scottish devolution, have stood the test of time; the majority of New Labour’s constitutional, economic and societal acts are not contested today. It is hard to imagine another Labour government with a majority to push through such immense changes, nor a Conservative party with the will to do so. The sheer volume of successful change through legislation that New Labour brought about can definitely be classified new; revolutionary almost.
In the long-term, did New Labour really transform the Labour party? We only have to look to the Labour party today to find ample evidence to contest that Blair transformed Labour for good. The in-fighting that makes parties appear so unelectable still plagues Labour today, despite Blair’s attempts to unite the party towards the centre of the political spectrum. Grassroots members such as Jeremy Corbyn squabble with more centrist Labour members and the antisemitism row does the party little favours either. Keir Starmer, current leader of the party, does not seem to have inherited a more centrist Labour party from Blair, quite the opposite. As a former Queen’s Council and fairly centrist himself, Starmer is regarded by many grassroot, far-left members of the party with disdain. Clearly, not all of the Labour party’s woes were ended by Blair. However, we should remember that general in-fighting within parties is to be expected. David Cameron, the so called the ‘heir to Blair’, hasn’t squashed Conservative squabbling; it is arguably an inherent feature of a functioning democratic party.
Moreover, New Labour’s inclusive ideology does still impact the UK’s political sphere, even 24 years on. The multi-culturalist, pro-EU, and pro-equality values that both Blair and Brown stood for have shifted what is politically acceptable today. Under New Labour, civil partnerships were supported, reducing poverty was seen as key and various climate change acts were put into force. The inclusivity that encompassed New Labour still ripples through politics today; there is no question as to whether the current government should support gay rights or not, should reduce poverty, or should fight climate change. Indeed, our current Conservative government, one of the most right-wing governments seen here in a long time, advocate for all three. Unfortunately, Blair did not quite manage to halt the Euro-sceptic tide that was to eventually lead to Brexit. On most other fronts though, New Labour’s values still permeate Britain and her politics today.
Though New Labour was perhaps fleeting, it did somehow manage to capture the mood of the country, and it certainly did it some good too. In answer to the question, ‘How new was New Labour?’ New Labour was undoubtedly ‘new’; both ideologically and demographically. It was arguably the transformation of the party into one for all, not just the working class that was New Labour’s greatest success; after all, you can’t govern unless elected. As Blair himself said in 2006, at his final conference speech, “They say I hate the party, and its traditions. I don’t. I love this party. There’s only one tradition I hated: losing.”
