लेबर_पार्टी
नई लेबर – सरकार में वापसी, 1997–2010
लेबर पार्टी ने १९९७ का आम चुनाव १७९ सीटों के भारी बहुमत से जीता, यह उसका अब तक का सर्वश्रेष्ठ बहुमत था। साथ ही १९४५ के बाद से किसी भी राजनीतिक दल के लिए यह सबसे बडा उलटफेर था। अगले दशक में बहुत सारे प्रगतिवादी सामाजिक सुधार किए गए। कर सुधारों जैसे कई प्रगतिशील नीतियों की वजह से लाखों लोगों के जीवनस्तर में सुधार हुआ। विलियम हॉग के नेतृत्व वाली कंज़र्वेटिव पार्टी अभी भी हार से उभरने का प्रयास कर रही थी और ब्लेयर की लोकप्रियता बढ़ती ही जा रही थी। इन सब वजहों से लेबर पार्टी ने उसी बहुमत से २००१ के ब्रिटेन के आम चुनाव भी जीत लिए। मीडिया ने इसे बहुत बड़ी जीत करार दिया। अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति जॉर्ज़ डब्ल्यु. बुश को इराक युद्ध में समर्थन करने की वजह से ब्लेयर की लोकप्रियता और राजनीतिक आधार घट गया। सयुंक्त राष्ट्र महासचिव सहित तमाम प्रमुख हस्तियों ने इस युद्ध को अकारण माना था। पश्चिमी देशों में इराक युद्ध बेहद अलोकप्रिय था और पश्चिमी सरकारें इसके समर्थन करने और ना करने को लेकर एकमत नहीं थीं। २००५ में लेबर पार्टी एक बार फिर सरकार के लिए चुनी गई। <!-- Blair announced in September 2006 that he would quit as leader within the year, though he had been under pressure to quit earlier than May 2007 in order to get a new leader in place before the May elections which were expected to be disastrous for Labour. In the event, the party did lose power in Scotland to a minority Scottish National Party government at the 2007 elections and, shortly after this, Blair resigned as Prime Minister and was replaced by his Chancellor, Gordon Brown. Although the party experienced a brief rise in the polls after this, its popularity soon slumped to its lowest level since the days of Michael Foot. During May 2008, Labour suffered heavy defeats in the London mayoral election, local elections and the loss in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, culminating in the party registering its worst ever opinion poll result since records began in 1943, of 23%, with many citing Brown's leadership as a key factor. Membership of the party also reached a low ebb, falling to 156,205 by the end of 2009: over 40 per cent of the 405,000 peak reached in 1997 and thought to be the lowest total since the party was founded. Finance proved a major problem for the Labour Party during this period; a "cash for peerages" scandal under Blair resulted in the drying up of many major sources of donations. Declining party membership, partially due to the reduction of activists' influence upon policy-making under the reforms of Neil Kinnock and Blair, also contributed to financial problems. Between January and March 2008, the Labour Party received just over £3 million in donations and were £17 million in debt; compared to the Conservatives' £6 million in donations and £12 million in debt. In the 2010 general election on 6 May that year, Labour with 29.0% of the vote won the second largest number of seats (258). The Conservatives with 36.5% of the vote won the largest number of seats (307), but no party had an overall majority, meaning that Labour could still remain in power if they managed to form a coalition with at least one smaller party. However, the Labour Party would have had to form a coalition with more than one other smaller party to gain an overall majority; anything less would result in a minority government. On 10 May 2010, after talks to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats broke down, Brown announced his intention to stand down as Leader before the Labour Party Conference but a day later resigned as both Prime Minister and party leader. -->