Modern Studies Dissertation
Socialism is no longer part of the New Labour ideology
Introduction
Neil Kinnock started the New Labour movement in an attempt to modernise the Labour Party and become more electorally popular after their crushing defeat to the Conservatives in the 1983 general election.
The New Labour movement only received proper acknowledgement under Tony Blair. As part of the New Labour movement - 'The Project' - 'Tony the Tory' moved the party closer to the centre of the political spectrum than it had ever been before. Examples of this being Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and the independence of the Bank of England to name a few. This was a pragmatic approach to regain the middle ground lost to the Conservatives in the last four general elections. The first chapter assesses the extent to which Blair removed socialism from New Labour's ideology. I will describe how he made Labour more of a ‘catch all’ party by encompassing a neo Liberal approach to policy formation.
In 2007, Gordon Brown, “Labour’s biggest, most impressive beast”, became leader after Blair's 'resignation' in the aftermath of the Iraq war fallout. Brown, whose policies on taxation and spending were widely associated with Old Labour, arguably turned out to be more ideological and less pragmatic than his predecessor. However, given the circumstances of the global recession, it could be said that, in normal economic circumstances, Brown was just as centre-left as Blair. Chapter two looks at the extent to which Brown returned socialist values to the Labour government and if Labour's position on the political spectrum stayed the same.
After much criticism from the public and the resulting failure in the 2010 general election, Gordon Brown stepped down as leader and was replaced by Ed Miliband. 'Red Ed', who described himself during the Labour leadership campaign as a socialist, wanted to put an end to 'New Labour' and spoke, instead, of the requirement for 'New Politics'. This was shown by his first
Introduction
Neil Kinnock started the New Labour movement in an attempt to modernise the Labour Party and become more electorally popular after their crushing defeat to the Conservatives in the 1983 general election.
The New Labour movement only received proper acknowledgement under Tony Blair. As part of the New Labour movement - 'The Project' - 'Tony the Tory' moved the party closer to the centre of the political spectrum than it had ever been before. Examples of this being Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and the independence of the Bank of England to name a few. This was a pragmatic approach to regain the middle ground lost to the Conservatives in the last four general elections. The first chapter assesses the extent to which Blair removed socialism from New Labour's ideology. I will describe how he made Labour more of a ‘catch all’ party by encompassing a neo Liberal approach to policy formation.
In 2007, Gordon Brown, “Labour’s biggest, most impressive beast”, became leader after Blair's 'resignation' in the aftermath of the Iraq war fallout. Brown, whose policies on taxation and spending were widely associated with Old Labour, arguably turned out to be more ideological and less pragmatic than his predecessor. However, given the circumstances of the global recession, it could be said that, in normal economic circumstances, Brown was just as centre-left as Blair. Chapter two looks at the extent to which Brown returned socialist values to the Labour government and if Labour's position on the political spectrum stayed the same.
After much criticism from the public and the resulting failure in the 2010 general election, Gordon Brown stepped down as leader and was replaced by Ed Miliband. 'Red Ed', who described himself during the Labour leadership campaign as a socialist, wanted to put an end to 'New Labour' and spoke, instead, of the requirement for 'New Politics'. This was shown by his first