page_title: History of the Labour Party (UK)
section_title: Neil Kinnock
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Labour Party (UK) / "Wilderness Years" / Neil Kinnock
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Collectie / Archief&#160;: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie&#160;: [ onbekend ] Beschrijving&#160;: Start campagne voor Europese verkiezingen van PvdA (Rotterdam); Neal Kinnoch , koppen Datum&#160;: 26 mei 1984 Locatie&#160;: Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Trefwoorden&#160;: Campagnes, VERKIEZINGEN Instellingsnaam&#160;: PvdA Fotograaf&#160;: Bogaerts, Rob / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende&#160;: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort&#160;: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris&#160;: bekijk toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer&#160;: 932-9811
context_page_description: The British Labour Party grew out of the trade union movement of the late 19th century and surpassed the Liberal Party as the main opposition to the Conservatives in the early 1920s. In the 1930s and 1940s, it stressed national planning, using nationalization of industry as a tool, in line with Clause IV of the original constitution of the Labour Party which called for the "common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service".
  Labour has had several spells in government, first as minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929–1931. MacDonald and half his cabinet split with the mainstream of the party and were denounced as traitors. Labour was a junior partner in the wartime coalition from 1940–1945. After the famous 1945 general election landslide under Clement Attlee it set up the welfare state with the National Health Service, nationalised a fifth of the economy, joined NATO and opposed the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Under Harold Wilson in 1964–1970 it promoted economic modernisation.
context_section_description: Michael Foot resigned and was replaced as leader by Neil Kinnock who was elected on 2 October 1983 and progressively moved the party towards the centre. Labour improved its performance in the 1987 general election, gaining 20 seats and so reducing the Conservative majority from 143 to 102. They were now firmly established as the second political party in Britain as the Alliance had once again failed to make a breakthrough with seats and it subsequently collapsed, prompting a merger of the SDP and Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats.
  The 1970s and early 1980s were significant for Labour in the rise of left-wing Labour councils (derided by their opponents as the "loony left") which emphasised improvements in housing and amenities, participation and rights for women and minorities, workers’ control, decentralisation, and opposition to neoliberalism. The left regarded local councils as part of an extra-parliamentary mode of opposition, alongside community groups and town halls. David Blunkett, once a member of Labour's left-wing, described Labour town halls as "a rudimentary opposition movement against the ruling party in Westminster." The left councils greatly advanced the cause of blacks, women, and homosexuals within the political system, while also opening up council-decision making.
  Increasingly, some Labour councils were radicalised to act in open defiance of the Thatcher Government. Instead of cutting expenditure, they raised rates and all kinds of borrowing and lease-back arrangements were entered into with overseas banks and private financial institutions in order to sustain capital programmes. The increased radicalisation of Labour councils during this period could be attributed to the policies of the Thatcher Government, which involved reductions in government financial aid to both council housing and local authorities, together with a change in the government's allocation formula so that local authority areas of high expenditure were disproportionately affected. As noted by Peter Shore,
  Since the areas of critical housing need were invariably Labour-controlled, as were the high-spending councils where social needs of all kinds were at their greatest, it was Labour councils in inner-city areas that were targeted to take the full brunt of government expenditure cuts.
  The Greater London Council, under the leadership of Ken Livingstone from 1981 to 1986, carried out a number of progressive policies such as a programme of grants to voluntary groups (which cost £47 million in 1984–85: £100 million in 1999 prices) and a "Fares Fair" policy, which cut London Transport fares by 25%. Although this policy was controversially ruled out by a House of Lords judgement, it was replaced by a more subtle cheap fares policy before London Transport was removed from GLC control by the government in 1984.
  In 1983, The Liverpool Labour party (then under the effective control of the Trotskyist Militant group) embarked upon an ambitious programme of municipal reform. Apart from promoting propaganda for class conflict, as characterised by continual protests and "days of action" in which council workers and even school pupils were encouraged to participate, the Liverpool council devoted much time and effort to improving the quality of the inner-city environment. New houses were constructed, while new parks, sports centres, and other leisure facilities were created. In addition, within a short period of time, 8,000 housing units were refurbished and 4,000 units had been built. Altogether, the results were an improvement on previous councils run by all parties. Following the 1987 election, Kinnock resumed the expulsion of Militant's members from the party which had begun under his predecessor.
  During the course of the 1980s, the GLC and several other Labour councils attempted to promote local economic recovery by setting up a network of enterprise boards and agencies. In addition, the GLC, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, and smaller London councils like Lambeth, Camden, and Islington adopted policies that challenged the Thatcher Government
caption: Neil Kinnock, leader of the party in opposition
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