Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a British political party. It is on the centre-left of the political spectrum.

## History

### Founding

The Labour Representation Committee was founded in 1900. Two members of the party were elected as MPs in the 1900 General Election. Keir Hardie was the first leader of the party. Ramsay MacDonald was elected to be the party's leader in 1911. Labour participated in the World War I Wartime Coalition from 1915 until the 1918 General Election. The party won few parliamentary seats until it implemented a new constitution in 1918, when the party gained 57 parliamentary seats. In the 1922 General Election, the party gained 142 seats, overtaking the Liberal Party to become the main opposition party in parliament.

### First government

In 1924, the first Labour government was formed. The 1923 General Election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party having the most seats. However, Stanley Baldwin, who was the leader of the Conservative Party, was defeated in a vote of no confidence, resulting in MacDonald being invited by King George V to become prime minister. The government collapsed by October 1924.

### 1924-1929

MacDonald continued to lead the Labour Party while in opposition. The Labour party did not support the General Strike of 1926.

### Second government

In 1929, Labour formed a second minority government. The government struggled to pass any laws.The government collapsed in 1931 after a revolt led by Oswald Mosley.

### 1931-1945

While the National Government was in power, Arthur Henderson lead the party in 1931. George Lansbury lead the Labour Party between 1932 and 1935. Clement Attlee became the party leader in 1935.Attlee joined the World War II Wartime Coalition Government, serving as deputy prime minister.

### 1945-1951

The Labour Party won the 1945 General Election with a landslide and Attless became prime minister. While in power, the Labour government created the National Health Service, nationalised many large industries such as the coal industry and allowed India to become an independent country. The Labour Party lost its majority in the 1950 General Election, and in the 1951 General Election, were defeated by the Conservative Party.

### 1951-1964

Attlee continued to lead the Labour Party until shortly after the 1955 General Election, which the Labour Party lost.  Hugh Gaitskell became leader of the Labour Party in 1955. During this period, the Labour Party was deeply devided on ideological grounds. The two main factions were the Bevanites, who were more left-wing and supported more socialist policies, and the Gaitskellites, who were to the right of the party. Under Gaitskell's leadership, the Labour Party lost the 1959 General Election. Gaitskell's leadership ended with his sudden death in 1963. Harold Wilson took over as Labour leader.

### 1964-1970

Labour won a small majority in the 1964 General Election. Labour increased its majority in the 1966 General Election. However, Labour lost the 1970 General Election.

### 1970-1974

While Labour were in opposition, Wilson continued to be the party leader.

### 1974-1979

Labour won a small majority in the February 1974 General Election. The Labour Party increased its majority slightly in the October 1974 General Election. Wilson resigned as leader in 1976, and James Callaghan took over. By 1977, Labour had lost its majority as a result of a by-election defeat, and joined with the Liberal Party in the Lib-Lab Pact. The pact broke up in 1978. Callaghan lost a vote of no confidence in 1979, forcing a general election.

### 1979-1997

Michael Foot became leader of the Labour Party in 1980 after Callaghan's retirement. Shortly after Foot became leader, 25 Labour MPs left the party to form a new party: the Social Democratic Party. In the 1983 General Election, Labour recieved its lowest share of the general vote since the 1920s. Foot resigned after the election, and Neil Kinnock became the Labour Party leader. In the 1987 General Election , Labour's performance was stronger than in 1983, but the party did not win. The Conservative Party also won the 1992 General Election, even though most opinion polls had predicted a narrow Labour victory. After the election, Kinnock resigned as leader and John Smith took over. Smith died in 1994. Following Smith's death, Tony Blair became leader of the Labour Party. Under the banner of New Labour, Blair moved the party closer to the centre of the political spectrum by abandoning Labour's commitment to nationalising industry and embracing private sector involvement in delivering public services. Labour won the 1997 General Election with a landslide.

### 1997-2010

After winning the 1997 election, Blair won both the 2001 General Election and the 2005 General Election. While Tony Blair was prime minister, he made numerous social and economic reforms, including introducing the minimum wage and tax credits. In terms of foreign policy, Blair was pro-European Union, and also supported the UK joining US-led military intervention in Iraq. In 2007, Blair stood down as leader and Gordon Brown ran in the party leadership election, and was unopposed, leading to him replacing Blair as Labour leader and the prime minister. While Brown was prime minister, he oversaw Britain's withdrawal from military intervention in Iraq. During Brown's leadership, the global financial crisis began, which lead to the UK economy going into recession. In the 2010 General Election, the result was a hung parliament with a Conservative lead. Brown resigned as prime minister after failing to reach a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrat Party

### 2010-Present

In 2010, Ed Miliband was elected to lead the Labour Party. In the 2015 General Election, the Conservative Party gained a majority and Labour lost seats. Miliband resigned as Labour leader shortly after the election  and Jeremy Corbyn was then elected to lead the Labour Party. In 2016, the party passed a vote of no confidence against Corbyn.  Another leadership contest was held, which Corbyn won. In the 2017 General Election, Labour did not win, but it did increase the number of seats it held. In February 2019, eight MPs resigned from the party and announced that they would form a group known as the Independent Group. Another MP, Ian Austin, resigned from Labour, but did not join the Independent Group. The Labour Party currently has 246 sitting MPs,  as well as 186 peers in the House of Lords.

## Ideology

Labour is a centre-left party. The party was originally commmited to the nationalisation of industry, but abandoned that commitment with the abolition of the original Clause IV of the party's constitution, which stated that nationalisation was the fairest way to own industry. Under Blair's leadership of the party, Clause IV was ammended to say that Labour would work with multiple bodies to distribute wealth and power. Corbyn advocates for restoring the original Clause IV.

## Party organisation and structure

The Labour Party has relationships with socialist organisations and trade unions, whose members are allowed to participate in party votes and elections.  The party's constitution is written in the party rule book. The National Executive Committee is responsible for devising policies and strategies.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3plMDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=labour+party+history&ots=cIKUwATi56&sig=x1Ut3HbaJdhmzrBj6NFnrA\_OUCw&redir\_esc=y#v=onepage&q=labour%20party%20history&f=false
2. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34244923
3. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/james-ramsay-macdonald
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/05/britain%E2%80%99s-first-labour-government-john-shepherd-and-keith-laybourn-ghetto-politics
5. ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8cIz32iH7BQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=speak+for+britain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7-IHLqMDgAhWXThUIHcNMDUMQuwUIKzAA#v=onepage&q=general%20strike&f=false
6. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/650274?seq=1#metadata\_info\_tab\_contents
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RsxRAQAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=ramsay+macdonald+second+government&ots=vy7-iIaaUF&sig=TaqDQiAwb89smqiUTym2kBZEqvU&redir\_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ramsay%20macdonald%20second%20government&f=false
8. ↑ https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/8D2FC77F5F680979E69AA161EFD8C644/S0020859000005708a.pdf/arthur\_henderson\_as\_labour\_leader.pdf
9. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/feb/25/1
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/clement-attlee
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UTZIDvfZUpYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=hugh+gaitskell&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivtMrko8PgAhX1sHEKHbGeCusQuwUIUjAJ#v=onepage&q=hugh%20gaitskell&f=false
12. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/18/newsid\_3376000/3376971.stm
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=b-IVDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=1964+general+election&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfy\_HdrMPgAhXtQhUIHY\_kCJkQuwUIMTAB#v=onepage&q=1964%20general%20election&f=false
14. ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=N-qzCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=harold+wilson+1970&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiIvL31s8PgAhWqQxUIHb70DL8QuwUIUDAH#v=onepage&q=heath&f=false
15. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/wilson-may-have-had-alzheimers-when-he-resigned-1009829.html
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FeUdCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=lib-lab+pact+1977&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjD7pSYuMPgAhXQSRUIHakEC3wQuwUIKzAA#v=onepage&q=lib-lab%20pact%201977&f=false
17. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/28/newsid\_2531000/2531007.stm
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/mar/03/michael-foot-obituary
19. ↑ https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m11.pdf
20. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk\_politics/vote\_2005/basics/4393317.stm
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/12/newsid\_2550000/2550803.stm
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yabkD154E98C&printsec=frontcover&dq=new+labour&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLy8GO4MPgAhWeSBUIHZq-DkYQuwUIQjAE#v=onepage&q=third%20way&f=false
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39717751
24. ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1467-923X.00343
25. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk\_politics/6660565.stmf
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/gordon-brown
27. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/
28. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk\_politics/election\_2010/8675913.stm
29. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11412031
30. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015
31. ↑ https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/who-new-labour-leader-miliband-9209854
32. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34221155
33. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36647458
34. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37461219
35. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2017/results
36. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/18/chuka-umunna-and-other-mps-set-to-quit-labour-party
37. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47300832
38. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/22/labour-seeks-to-stem-antisemitism-crisis-after-mp-ian-austin-quits
39. ↑ https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/current-state-of-the-parties/
40. ↑ https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/composition-of-the-lords/
41. ↑ https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2015/05/14/mapping-europes-party-systems-which-parties-are-the-most-right-wing-and-left-wing-in-europe/
42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/09/clause-iv-of-labour-party-constitution-what-is-all-the-fuss-about-reinstating-it
43. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-leadership-contest-after-88-days-of-campaigning-how-did-labours-candidates-do-10495726.html
44. ↑ http://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-RULE-BOOK.pdf
45. ↑ https://labour.org.uk/about/how-we-work/national-executive-committee/whos-on-the-nec/