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David Marquand and liberal social democracy

Will Hutton

in Making social democrats: Citizens, mindsets, realities: Essays for David Marquand

Will Hutton levels indictments against the existing British state and its elected dictatorship as a ‘Gothic, feudal horror’, as well as the political left for lapsing into a state of ‘bankruptcy’ ... More

Will Hutton levels indictments against the existing British state and its elected dictatorship as a ‘Gothic, feudal horror’, as well as the political left for lapsing into a state of ‘bankruptcy’ under current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Hutton maintains that harmony between vigorous capitalism and reinvigorated self-government is entirely within reach. On the other hand, he acknowledges that the postwar social contract has been ‘unpicked’ in the course of the past generation and worries that the existing political and economic system in Britain inhibits (at best) and perhaps even forecloses the possibility of reform. Hence, Hutton concludes by claiming that successful democracy and successful capitalism both require a massive shift in political power in the United Kingdom away from top-down centralisation and domination and toward bottom-up participation and wealth generation.Less

Revolt on the left: Labour in opposition

Thomas Quinn

in None past the post: Britain at the polls, 2017

This chapter offers an account of the Labour Party between the 2015 and 2017 general elections. It explains why Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader and how the party moved further to the left. It ... More

This chapter offers an account of the Labour Party between the 2015 and 2017 general elections. It explains why Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader and how the party moved further to the left. It examines the very different responses to Corbyn’s leadership from within the party, and why he was both challenged for the party leadership by his MPs and able to defend his position with enormous support from the mass membership. It finishes by examining how, after languishing in the polls, Labour defied expectations on polling day by dramatically increasing its vote share.Less

Principles and the progressive alliance in a networked society: what we can learn from Marquandism in the making and unmaking of social democrats

Neal Lawson

Hans Schattle and Jeremy Nuttall (eds)

in Making social democrats: Citizens, mindsets, realities: Essays for David Marquand

Neal Lawson probes the historical reasons why the ethically-driven, pluralist politics espoused by Marquand has yet to be fully adopted and assesses its relevance to the present. For much of the ... More

Neal Lawson probes the historical reasons why the ethically-driven, pluralist politics espoused by Marquand has yet to be fully adopted and assesses its relevance to the present. For much of the twentieth century, he argues, a mechanistic politics (and economics) were variously reflected in the power of, and importance attached to the state, the big company, the political ‘centre’, hierarchy and the machine. Fordism and Fabianism went hand in hand, but in the early twenty-first century they have given way to an uncertain situation in which capitalism is discredited, yet social democracy has not worked out a persuasive alternative. The need, in Lawson’s eyes, is to bend modernity to social democratic values, neither ignoring modernity, like Jeremy Corbyn, not bending the values to modernity, as with Tony Blair. The less hierarchical, more communicationally and informationally connected modern society offers grounds for optimism about the prospects for more democratic and egalitarian approaches. However, this must entail making moral choices, in favour of Marquand’s vision of active citizenship over turbo-consumerism.Less

‘What dire effects from civil discord flow’:¹ party management and legitimacy breakdown in the Labour Party

Eric Shaw

in Labour united and divided from the 1830s to the present

All large parties face the question of how to strike a balance between diversity and tolerance on the one hand and unity and firm leadership on the other. Striking this balance is the task of party ... More

All large parties face the question of how to strike a balance between diversity and tolerance on the one hand and unity and firm leadership on the other. Striking this balance is the task of party management. This chapter consists of three main sections. The first discusses the function, forms and bases of party management. It identifies ideological integration, governance legitimation and normative integration as crucial shock absorbers which enable party cohesion to survive management. The second section analyses party management under New Labour. It shows how skilful, adept and ruthless party managers achieved a high measure of cohesion and control but ultimately the managerial regime they established sowed the seeds of its own dissolution. The third and longest section uses the concept of rival managerial strategies - majoritarian centralism and pluralism - to explore party management under Corbyn. It argues that the (general) preference for the former contributed to a veritable crisis of managerial authority, one which abated after Labour’s unexpectedly strong electoral performance in June 2017 but has by no means been fully resolved.Less

The conflicting loyalties of the Scottish Labour Party

Fiona Simpkins

in Labour united and divided from the 1830s to the present

The legitimacy of Scottish Labour as a party representative of the Scottish people has been called into question for much of its recent history, not only by disgruntled members of the Scottish ... More

The legitimacy of Scottish Labour as a party representative of the Scottish people has been called into question for much of its recent history, not only by disgruntled members of the Scottish electorate and political commentators, but also by Labour members and leaders themselves. Although there have been recent moves towards a more autonomous Scottish Labour Party, the post-devolution period for Labour has been marked overall by the difficulties entailed by the paradoxical centralisation of the organisation and structure of the party in a decentralised political environment where the constitutional issue has become the main political divide. This chapter therefore seeks to examine the current soul-searching crisis experienced by Scottish Labour through the analysis of the party’s experience of devolution in light of the two contradictory forces exerted by a traditionally centralised party in a unitary polity on the one hand and an overarching constitutional debate in a devolved environment on the other hand.Less

Rewriting political mythology in 2017

Timothy Noël Peacock

in The British tradition of minority government

The rereading of Minority Governments in 1970s Britain, through declassified papers and a wide range of publicly available sources, provides an invaluable perspective on subsequent British political ... More

The rereading of Minority Governments in 1970s Britain, through declassified papers and a wide range of publicly available sources, provides an invaluable perspective on subsequent British political history and, in particular, on the Conservative Minority Government formed, with DUP support, in June 2017. This chapter offers lessons from history on the potential challenges and opportunities confronting Theresa May’s Minority Government and the Labour Opposition led by Jeremy Corbyn. This study concludes by highlighting the significant longer-term implications for future political decision-making in Britain and other countries, as well as the potential impact on future scholarship and international minority government theory.Less

Back to the past? Labour’s return to opposition, 2010 to the present

Richard Jobson

in Nostalgia and the post-war Labour Party: Prisoners of the past

This chapter examines Labour’s return to opposition after the 2010 General Election. It argues that, within the party, the period since 2010 has witnessed a nostalgic resurgence. When compared to the ... More

This chapter examines Labour’s return to opposition after the 2010 General Election. It argues that, within the party, the period since 2010 has witnessed a nostalgic resurgence. When compared to the New Labour era, elite discourses have become less hostile to nostalgia. To varying degrees, all of the candidates in the 2010 leadership contest articulated memories associated with the party’s nostalgia-identity. Under Ed Miliband’s leadership, intraparty groups and movements that exhibited a sentimental attachment to the past grew in strength. Following Labour’s 2015 election defeat, Jeremy Corbyn obtained and consolidated his status as party leader by making nostalgic appeals to the past that resonated with party members. Within Labour, Corbyn’s political opponents have largely been forced onto his nostalgic terrain. Therefore, this chapter concludes by suggesting that, far from representing a ‘new kind of politics’, Corbynism represents an acute political manifestation of Labour’s historically orientated identity.Less

Corbynism: The Left’s Resurgence

Dimitri Batrouni

in The Battle of Ideas in the Labour Party: From Attlee to Corbyn and Brexit

The fifth chapter is a detailed investigation of Corbynism. It delves into what it is substantively. Through many interviews and secondary sources, it reveals the main thinkers and who are the chief ... More

The fifth chapter is a detailed investigation of Corbynism. It delves into what it is substantively. Through many interviews and secondary sources, it reveals the main thinkers and who are the chief actors driving it forward. It notes that it is largely defined by what it is not, namely New Labour and neoliberalism, critiquing the previous Labour administration’s accommodation with neoliberalism. However, its advocates deliberately avoid accusations of a lurch back to ‘Old’ Labour and there is an attempt to project a newness to Labour’s thinking; to develop a 21st century socialism.Less

Toward an Industry

Zachary Dorner

in Merchants of Medicines: The Commerce and Coercion of Health in Britain's Long Eighteenth Century

Before a medicine could become an imperial commodity, it first had to be made. This chapter examines the production of medicines by druggists, chemists, and apothecaries in London that together ... More

Before a medicine could become an imperial commodity, it first had to be made. This chapter examines the production of medicines by druggists, chemists, and apothecaries in London that together formed the beginnings of an industry. It underscores topics of competition, collaboration, secrecy, investment, regulation, and taxation, while also presenting central figures in the narrative, such as Thomas Corbyn. The laboratories where medicines were manufactured appear as busy, dangerous, and generative workspaces in a distinctive medical marketplace. An attention to chemical, labor, and recordkeeping practices, for example, offer an unprecedented peek inside the early modern pharmacy. Here, those who manufactured medicines began to borrow the tactics of the mercantile house to link their businesses to financial, industrial, and state institutions as the British medicine trade reached a scope and scale unlike ever before.Less

Taking Back Control: Britain Turns against the Market

Jonathan Hopkin

in Anti-System Politics: The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies

This chapter traces the response to inequality and financial collapse in the United Kingdom, with the anti-system Right represented by the Brexit campaign, and the Left by Jeremy Corbyn’s takeover of ... More

This chapter traces the response to inequality and financial collapse in the United Kingdom, with the anti-system Right represented by the Brexit campaign, and the Left by Jeremy Corbyn’s takeover of the Labour Party. Like Trump’s election in the United States, which it preceded by less than six months, the Brexit vote was an anti-system vote, a vote of rejection of the existing political establishment and the economic policies it had implemented since the 1980s. Just as Trump’s victory mobilized entrenched racial divides in the United States, Brexit reflected a long-standing skepticism about European integration in British society. The chapter then argues that Brexit formed part of a wider anti-system revolt in Britain, which replaced the centrist politics of the 1990s and 2000s with a deeply polarized politics pitting half the country against the other.Less

Electing a Leader

Rodney Brazier

in Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain

A person normally becomes Prime Minister either after winning a General Election, or after the Government party has elected a new leader to succeed a Prime Minister. Leadership of one of the main ... More

A person normally becomes Prime Minister either after winning a General Election, or after the Government party has elected a new leader to succeed a Prime Minister. Leadership of one of the main political parties is therefore a prerequisite for entering Number 10 Downing Street. This chapter examines exactly how the main parties have elected their leaders since 1902, setting the processes in their historical contexts, and explaining why the systems have been changed down the years. The Conservative Party did not have a formal system until after a major crisis in 1963; Labour has always elected its leader; but the systems which have been used have been altered for political reasons. Recent leadership elections, e.g. of Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Jeremy Corbyn, are examined. The chapter also explains the ways in which an opposition party can get rid of a leader who doesn’t want to quit.Less

The British Example

Jonathan Fox and Lev Topor

in Why Do People Discriminate against Jews?

In order to place the empirical findings of this study into a more concrete context, in this chapter the authors examine the United Kingdom as a case study, using traditional comparative politics ... More

In order to place the empirical findings of this study into a more concrete context, in this chapter the authors examine the United Kingdom as a case study, using traditional comparative politics qualitative methodology. They examine the history of anti-Semitism and discrimination against Jews in the United Kingdom, focusing on the religious, anti-Zionist, and conspiracy-based explanations in this context. They demonstrate that it is plausible to argue that all three of these motives have caused discrimination against Jews in the United Kingdom. The chapter also discusses briefly the allegations of anti-Semitism by the Labour Party in recent years, specifically under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.Less

The Brexit Elections, 2017–19

David Denver and Mark Garnett

in British General Elections Since 1964: Diversity, Dealignment, and Disillusion

The years immediately after the 2015 general election were dominated by another vote, held in 2016. In 2013, the electoral challenge from UKIP had forced David Cameron to promise an in–out referendum ... More

The years immediately after the 2015 general election were dominated by another vote, held in 2016. In 2013, the electoral challenge from UKIP had forced David Cameron to promise an in–out referendum on the EU should his party win the next general election. Cameron fulfilled his promise, after negotiations with the EU which only partially addressed the grievances of Eurosceptics in UKIP and within his own party. The chapter discusses the narrow victory for ‘Leave’ in the 2016 referendum, arising from divisions within the UK which cut across previous party allegiances and introduced a new element of volatility in an electorate which was already barely recognizable from that of 1964. The situation was complicated further by the election of the radical left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader after his party’s 2015 defeat. By contrast, when David Cameron resigned as Conservative leader and Prime Minister after the referendum he was succeeded by Theresa May, who was regarded as a pragmatic centre-right politician who could negotiate a compromise ‘Brexit’ deal with the EU. The chapter examines May’s failure to carry out this promise, marked in particular by her inept attempt to secure a convincing parliamentary majority in the 2017 general election. When May was forced from office in 2019 she was succeeded by Boris Johnson, a far more controversial and divisive character who nevertheless was able to lead the Conservatives to a comfortable electoral victory, not least because their pro-European opponents were hopelessly divided. However, the victorious Conservatives had no reason to feel complacent; even if Johnson’s government could deliver the favourable Brexit deal which it had promised, over the years since 1964 the British electorate had become far more fickle and parties were increasingly vulnerable to events outside their control. Within a few months of the 2019 election, party competition in Britain, which had seemed so stable back in 1964, was exposed to a new and deadly source of disturbance—the outbreak in China of the Covid-19 virus—which presented the most serious challenge faced by any UK government since 1945.Less

Conclusion

Geoffrey Evans and James Tilley

in The New Politics of Class: The Political Exclusion of the British Working Class

This chapter pulls together the findings and arguments from the rest of the book. It summarizes the sections on social continuity (the lack of change in differences between social groups), political ... More

This chapter pulls together the findings and arguments from the rest of the book. It summarizes the sections on social continuity (the lack of change in differences between social groups), political change (the large changes of political parties’ ideology, rhetoric, and personnel), and the consequences of those changes (the decline of class voting and the rise of class non-voting). It then considers whether these consequences will endure. In particular, it points to whether current developments in the Labour Party (especially Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership) or UKIP’s future trajectory can change any of those consequences. It is suggested not, and that the pattern of class non-voting is likely to continue given the habitual nature of voting. The conclusion reiterates the thesis of the book.Less