New Labour, New Life for Britain
New Labour, New Life for Britain was a political manifesto published in 1996 by the British Labour Party. The party had recently rebranded itself as New Labour under Tony Blair. The manifesto set out the party's new "Third Way" centrist approach to policy, with subsequent success at the 1997 general election. The 1997 general election produced the biggest Labour majority, in seat terms, in the history of the party's existence. They won 418 seats, with a majority of 179. They delivered on the main aims of the manifesto including introducing a minimum  wage, increasing National Health Service (NHS) spending and reducing class sizes in schools. The Conservatives' rule was over after eighteen years; under the leadership of John Major they suffered their worst defeat since the 1906 general election, losing 178 seats, including the unseating of seven Conservative Cabinet Ministers and the loss of all their Scottish and Welsh representation; becoming the official opposition with 165 seats. This election was the start of a Labour government following an 18-year spell in opposition and continued with another landslide victory in 2001 and a third consecutive victory in 2005, despite losing a great  deal of popular support. In 2010, they became the official opposition with 258 seats, having fallen to 29% in the popular vote. The new Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, completely abandoned the New Labour branding in 2010 after being elected, moving the party's political stance slightly to the left. He resigned as leader in 2015, and was succeeded by Jeremy Corbyn at the September 2015 Labour Leadership election, who further distanced the party from the New Labour brand. He resigned as leader after the 2019 General Election, and was succeeded by Keir Starmer at the April 2020  Labour Leadership election who aligned the party more towards the right. Pledge card. During the 1997 campaign, a pledge card with five specific pledges was issued and detailed in the manifesto too. The pledges were: