Why did Labour lose in 1980s? Why did Labour lose in 1980s? by Martin Smith Published Sat 4 Dec 1999 Issue No. 1675 'WHEN KEN Livingstone was in charge of the Labour Party in London we were a byword for extremism. We were unelectable as a political party. I never want to go back to those days again.' This is Tony Blair's central argument why people should not back Ken Livingstone as Labour's candidate for mayor of London. It is a complete reversal of the truth. Labour's failure to beat the Tories does not lie with the left. It lies on the shoulders of Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock and other leading Labour Party figures. On three occasions the Tories were nearly brought to their knees by working class struggle. It was Labour's leaders who failed to take the advantage. The Labour government of 1974-9 had paved the way for the Tories in the first place. It delivered savage cuts in public spending. Unemployment rocketed. By the time of the 1979 election workers felt demoralised after years of attacks from what was supposed to be 'their' government.

The Tories came to office determined to take on the trade union movement so the bosses could increase their profits. In January 1980 Thatcher began her onslaught by attacking the steel workers. There was an all out strike in response. The militancy of the strike shocked the Tories. Mass pickets closed down the steel plants. Over 200,000 workers took part in a solidarity general strike across Wales. The Tory government was on the rocks. Opinion polls showed that Labour would have a majority of 130 if there were a general election. Labour could have called for more industrial action and protests to increase the heat on the Tories. But Michael Foot, the leader of the Labour Party, argued that the only solution was to wait four years for the next election. Labour sat back and allowed the bosses to beat the steel workers. The defeat of the strike cleared the way for a huge wave of job losses. Unemployment reached four million. The defeat and mass unemployment left many workers feeling despairing and powerless. But many hated Thatcher passionately. The left grew in the early 1980s. But it often did not relate to workers' struggles. Instead it channelled its energies into winning positions inside the Labour Party.

It was far from inevitable, however, that the Tories would win the 1983 election. It was the right wing of the Labour Party that wrecked Labour's chances of winning, not the left. In 1981 four leading right wing Labour MPs left the party and formed the SDP. The SDP then formed an electoral alliance with the Liberals. This split the anti-Tory vote. In both the 1983 and 1987 general elections the combined vote of the Labour Party and the SDP was bigger than that of the Tories. In fact Thatcher never won more than 44 percent of the vote throughout the 1980s. The Falkands War is often given as an explanation of why the Tories won the 1983 election. But this is a myth. The Tories' popularity hardly rose at all during the Falklands War. Unemployment and a well supported strike by health workers made many people cynical of Thatcher's motives for going to war. But Labour did nothing to build opposition to the war. In fact Labour leader Michael Foot accused the Tories of not being hard enough in their defence of the Falkland Islands.

The Tories fell over themselves to congratulate him for 'speaking for Britain'. Labour's stance only helped the government. Kinnock's pale imitation THATCHER EMBARKED on her biggest confrontation with the unions in 1984 when she took on the miners. For a whole year the miners stood up to the Tories. It was the longest mass strike in European history. The miners could have won. Ian MacGregor was the head of the Coal Board at the time. In his memoirs he claims that when the dockers threatened to walk out in solidarity with the mine workers, Thatcher was on the verge of throwing in the towel. In February 1984, just one month before the miners' strike, a MORI poll found Labour 10 percent behind the Tories. As the strike started Labour's ratings soared in the opinion polls. In August, when the strike was at its height, Labour led by double figures. It gained from the collective struggle but did nothing to build it. Neil Kinnock, the new Labour leader, savagely attacked the miners for picketing and demanded compliance with the anti-union laws.

Kinnock's refusal to get behind the strike, combined with trade union leaders' refusal to deliver the solidarity action that the miners needed, meant that the miners were beaten. Many workers again felt demoralised and once again the Tories survived. The defeat of the miners encouraged bosses to go on the offensive. Within two years print workers, dockers and seafarers suffered the same fate. When it came to the election of 1987, the mini-boom in the economy at the end of the 1980s helped the Tories. But the media today exaggerate the extent to which the Tories won over 'hearts and minds'. The Tories only won over a small minority of workers to their free market ideology. For example, Thatcher always claimed that she had turned Britain into a 'shareholding democracy'. But in 1988 only 14 percent of the population of Britain owned shares. When it came to the manual working class it was only 4 percent. There was also an enormous movement against the Tories' capping of local councils' budgets. Sadly, left wing councils backed off in the face of the Tories' threats. Each election defeat pushed Labour's national leaders further and further to the right.

Kinnock's strategy was to dump any socialist policies and to attack the left inside the party. Kinnock argued that Labour had to drop unilateral nuclear disarmament. But survey after survey showed that around 40 percent of the population backed unilateralism. In 1987 Kinnock argued that Labour should embrace the market, and his campaign manager, Bryan Gould, said Labour should move so far to the right that it should 'leapfrog Thatcher' to do so. Labour ended up a pale version of the Tories. As a result many who disliked the Tories felt they could not trust Labour. Flagship leads to explosion THE TORIES' repeated attacks on workers built up huge pools of bitterness inside the working class. That bitterness eventually exploded around the poll tax. The poll tax was going to be the Thatcher's 'flagship'. But around 15 million refused to pay the tax. There were protests and small riots outside town halls all over the country. The campaign culminated in a march of a quarter of a million people in London which ended in the biggest riot in Britain for 100 years. Six months later Thatcher was forced to resign. Once again, the Tories could have been finished off completely.

Once again, the Labour leadership came to their aid. Labour's deputy leader Roy Hattersley urged 'exemplary sentences' for those arrested on poll tax marches. Labour councils jailed non-payers. Just before the 1992 election Labour even attacked the Tories for not changing the law to make it easier to pursue non-payers! Labour's opposition to the fight against the poll tax threw away millions of votes. In the 1992 election 11.5 million people voted Labour. That was three million less than the number of summonses, warrants and benefit deduction orders issued for poll tax non-payment. If all those who had refused to pay the poll tax had voted Labour, Kinnock would have won a parliamentary majority of 119 seats. Instead the glitziest, 'most professional' Labour campaign in history only increased the party's vote by a miserable 5 percent. The people behind Kinnock's election disaster were not Ken Livingstone and the left but Peter Mandelson, Gordon Brown and John Prescott. These are the very people who today sing the praises of the market, just as millions of workers hate privatisation, fat cat bosses and want the renationalisation of the railways and trade union rights.

People voted Labour in 1997 because they hated the Tories' market madness, and today they are sick of Blair's pro-market madness. Article information Labour picks Foot to heal party splits | 1980-1989 | Guardian Century Labour picks Foot to heal party splits Ian Aitken, political editor guardian.co.uk The Parliamentary Labour Party last night broke radically with its 80-year history and elected its first revivalist left-wing leader since the early days of Keir Hardie. Mr Michael Foot, the devoted lieutenant of the late Aneurin Bevan, defeated Mr Denis Healey by a handsome majority of 10. The result staggered many left-wing MPs as well as a substantial number on the Right of the party. But no one was more surprised than Mr Foot himself, who confessed immediately after the announcement of the result that he had never expected in the course of his long career as a Labour MP on the Left of the party to become its leader. The result was announced to a packed meeting of Labour MPs in committee room 14 on the floor above the Commons chamber. It showed that all the 269 Labour members, save only for the Speaker, Mr George Thomas, had delivered valid votes.

The result was 139 for Mr Foot and 129 for Mr Healey. After a burst of almost incredulous cheering from Mr Foot's supporters Mr Healey announced stoically that his defeat would not prevent him from working loyally for a Labour victory at the next election. He said that he would now be standing for the deputy leadership of the party in the ballot next week. Mr Foot gave an immediate indication of the flavour of the leadership which he proposes to offer to the party. He announced at a press conference summoned minutes after his triumph that he intends to lead a gigantic Labour demonstration against unemployment and the economic policies of the Conservative Government in Liverpool later this month. One of Mr Foot's most forceful points at his press conference related to defence policy and disarmament. He said that it was now vital to bring the issue of nuclear disarmament to the forefront of international politics. "The dismantling of those weapons is essential for the survival of our world," he said. Yet he was emphatic that the Labour Party was not in favour of withdrawal from NATO. No such motion had been carried at the last party conference, he said, and it was therefore not a proposal in front of the party.

His words were clearly designed to achieve the maximum party unity, and he extended that to the increasingly embarrassing question of party democracy and the drive for a new formula under which party leaders are to be elected. Former Labour leader Michael Foot dies | Politics | The Guardian Former Labour leader Michael Foot dies Labour party leader between 1980 and 1983 dies aged 96 Michael Foot in April 1972. Photograph: Leonard Burt/Getty Images Wednesday 3 March 2010 09.34 EST First published on Wednesday 3 March 2010 09.34 EST Close This article is 6 years old Michael Foot , the most improbable literary romantic to lead a major British party since Benjamin Disraeli, has died at the age of 96 after a turbulent political career that left him a much-loved but also deeply controversial figure. A brilliant orator, steeped in Swift, Byron, Shelley and the great political struggles of the 17th century, Foot was first an incorrigible rebel who helped foster the left-right Bevanite split that damaged Labour throughout the 50s.

A champion of British unilateral nuclear disarmament, one of the left's great postwar causes, he gradually moved towards office in the economic crisis of 1974. Foot led Labour from 1980 to 1983, presiding over the party during the formation of the breakaway SDP. He resigned after Labour fell to a stunning defeat in the 1983 election, the voters having rejected a manifesto later called the "longest suicide note in history". In a statement, Gordon Brown said: "Michael Foot was a man of deep principle and passionate idealism and one of the most eloquent speakers Britain has ever heard. "He was an indomitable figure who always stood up for his beliefs and whether people agreed with him or not they admired his character and his steadfastness." Tony Benn, his cabinet colleague and occasional nemesis, added: "He was one of the great figures of the Labour movement." Foot's gallant reputation and prestige kept the left and the unions on side during his time as Jim Callaghan's deputy PM in difficult years from 1976 to 1979.

He was also accused of irresponsibility and – ironically in view of his past – of appeasement of the unions by resurgent Conservatives and some Labour MPs. For others his idealism, which included a life-long devotion to Plymouth Argyle FC, was highly attractive. Despite the defeat of many of his most cherished causes, he had a rich and deeply fulfilled life, which he shared, until her death in 1999, with his beloved wife, the filmmaker Jill Craigie. In the crisis that followed the defeat of the Callaghan government and the rise of Margaret Thatcher, Foot led the Labour party from 1980 to 1983, presiding over it during the formation of the breakaway Social Democratic Party (SDP), which used his election over Denis Healey as the excuse for their defection. He stepped down in favour of his protege Neil Kinnock after Labour slumped to a stunning 145-seat defeat in the 1983 election in the wake of a manifesto that a Labour colleague called "the longest suicide note in history". It fell to Kinnock to rebuild his party and put it on the road to three election wins under Tony Blair.

Foot, who refused all honours including a peerage, must often have been unhappy with Blair's leadership, but in old age loyalty to his party was a paramount consideration. It was not always so. The frail child of a West Country Liberal dynasty, Foot was always a rebel, who hitched his star early to the charismatic Welsh ex-miner, Aneurin Bevan, whose admiring biographer he became. Their radical socialist views did not prevent either of them becoming allies of Lord Beaverbrook, the Canadian press tycoon, owner of the then-mighty Daily Express, who shared their sense of mischief. A distinguished writer and journalist with a passion for literature as well as politics, Foot gained his first great claim to fame as the author of Guilty Men, the celebrated polemic against the prewar appeasers in 1940. Beaverbrook entered Churchill's cabinet, Bevan attacked Churchill, and Foot briefly edited Beaverbrook's London Evening Standard – though the leftwing weekly Tribune was his life's love. Tribune helped set the tone for Labour's victory in 1945 when Foot, alone in his Liberal family, unexpectedly won Plymouth Devonport for Labour and became a Westminster gadfly.

It was a role he maintained from outside after losing Devonport in 1955 and resumed after succeeding Bevan in Ebbw Vale after his hero's death in 1960. Foot and Bevan fell out over Bevan's renunciation of unilateralism. But Foot followed his mighty heart for much of his career. His firm support of Indian independence led him to back his friend Indira Gandhi when she declared a state of emergency in the 70s. In the 60s he joined forces with Enoch Powell, with whom he shared the title of best parliamentary orator, to block Labour efforts to reform the Lords – though he wanted it abolished, Powell wanted it left untouched. Such quixotic behaviour prompted his old Oxford friend Barbara Castle to complain that he had "grown soft on a diet of soft options". But when Labour unexpectedly took power again in the global energy crisis – and domestic crisis between Ted Heath's government and the miners – Foot accepted the tough job of employment secretary under Harold Wilson. Under Jim Callaghan, as Labour lost its majority after 1977, he was leader of the Commons and deputy PM, fighting night after night to keep the government afloat.

Among his many gallant defeats of that period was the campaign in which seven cabinet ministers, including Foot, were allowed to fight for a "no" vote when Wilson offered voters a referendum on Britain's still-new EU membership in 1975. The yes camp – which included Margaret Thatcher – won by a ratio of 2:1. He and Benn were not peas in the same pod and Foot felt personally betrayed when Benn insisted on contesting Healey's role as deputy Labour leader in 1981 – a divisive contest that Healey narrowly won when young leftwingers like Kinnock refused to back Benn. After his leadership Foot stayed in the Commons backing Kinnock against Militant entryism for which his earlier tolerance had been criticised, until 1992 when his protege lost the general election to John Major. But his passion for books, as for Plymouth Argyle, never dimmed as the infirmities of old age took their toll. In the bloody 90s when Yugoslavia was torn by civil war Michael and Jill Foot went there and made a film on behalf of their beloved Dubrovnik. No puritan, Foot was fond of drink and laughter as well as ancient historical ports.

It was a fitting last hurrah. Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party - Young Fabians Young Fabians Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party by Alex Bjarnason Posted on 17 January, 2014 · Follow Alex on Twitter Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party have included some of the most important and interesting figures in our movement's history. Throughout the year we will profile each of the 16 Deputy Leaders in separate blogposts. The first Deputy Leader was J.R. Clynes (1922-1932), a Fabian and Trade Unionist, who began working in a cotton mill when he was ten years old, helped form the Piercers' Union at seventeen years old, leading the Labour party in the 1922 elections before becoming Deputy Leader. In his final years as Deputy, Clynes shared the position with Scottish MP William Graham (1931-1932).

Clement Attlee (1932-1935), Herbert Morrison (1945-1955) and Aneurin Bevan (1959-1960), three big beasts integral to implementing the welfare state, each served as Deputy Leader, with Attlee going on to became Leader and later Prime Minister. They were joined as Deputy by Arthur Greenwood (1935-1945), a working class intellectual and fierce opponent of Nevile Chamberlain's policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany, and Jim Griffiths (1955-1959), the first Secretary of State for Wales. Following Aneurin Bevan’s death in 1960, George Brown (1960-1970) became Deputy. Born into a working class family in South London, Brown left school at 15, became an organiser in the trade union movement, and went on to be Foreign Secretary. He was replaced by the Welsh son of a coal miner Roy Jenkins (1970-1972), who served as Home Secretary, and later left the Labour Party to form the Socialist Democratic Party.

After Jenkins, Edward Short (1972-1976) was voted new Deputy. A proud northerner and party loyalist, he introduced statutory funding of opposition parties ("Short money") as leader of the House of Commons . Afterwards, the Deputy Leadership was held by Michael Foot (1976-1980), a gifted intellectual, journalist and writer who became leader and led the party to one of its worst electoral defeats in 1983. His election manifesto was dubbed “the longest suicide note in history” for its advocacy of nuclear disarmament, withdrawal from the European Economic Community, and introduction of a minimum wage. Foot was succeeded by Denis Healey (1980-1983), a Yorkshireman who became a communist party member and fought for 5 years with the Royal Engineers in World War II. During the war, Healey left the communists, joined Labour upon his return, and after entering parliament in 1952 had long periods as Deputy Leader, Chancellor, Defence Secretary, and was a member of the Fabian Society executive.

He was replaced by the prolific writer and journalist Roy Hattersley (1983-1992), whose 9 years as Deputy were spent entirely in opposition. Labour elected Margaret Beckett (1992-1994) as their first female Deputy Leader. A scientist by training, she became Acting Leader following the death of John Smith, was Britain's first female Foreign Secretary, and a minister for both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Beckett was followed by John Prescott (1994-2007), who worked in the Merchant Navy and was a trade union official before entering parliament. He was the Labour's longest serving Deputy Leader, and Deputy Prime Minister between 1997-2007. The current Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman (2007-Present), was a successful solicitor and worked for Liberty before becoming an MP. She became Secretary of State for Social Security in 1997, was sacked but returned to government as Solicitor General for England and Wales between 2001-2005. Harman was Acting Leader following Gordon Brown's resignation, and is currently Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport. Do you like this post?

Michael Foot memorial defaced with swastikas - BBC News BBC News Michael Foot memorial defaced with swastikas 4 July 2016 Image copyright Luke Pollard Image caption The graffiti on the memorial near Michael Foot's family home has been removed Vandals daubed extremist graffiti on a memorial to the late Labour leader Michael Foot in his home city. The tribute, near his family home in Plymouth, was daubed with swastikas and references to the British National Party and English Defence League. Mr Foot's godson Alan Lemin called it an "act of ignorance", while former Labour candidate Luke Pollard branded it "sickening". The graffiti has now been removed with help from the council and volunteers. Click here for live updates on this story Image caption Council workers have been cleaning graffiti from the memorial Mr Pollard, who stood as a Labour candidate in the 2015 General Election, said: "Michael Foot spent his entire career standing up against fascism and it is important for us all to stand up and make sure the actions of a few do not increase fear." He said that a "toxic atmosphere" in the country after the Brexit referendum result had contributed to the vandalism, which happened on Sunday.

"A very small number of people think it is now acceptable to say vile, racist and homophobic things in public," he said. He added the response from people in the city had been "incredible" and with help of volunteers and the "quick response" of the city council, the graffiti had been removed. Media captionMichael Foot was the Labour Party leader from 1980 to 1983 Michael Foot MP from 1945 to 1992, including 10 years in the Plymouth Devonport constituency Won the Blaenau Gwent seat in Wales in 1960 Held Blaenau Gwent for 32 years before standing down in 1992 Employment secretary in the 1974-76 Labour government under Harold Wilson Leader of Labour Party 1980 to 1983 Died March 2010 aged 96 Det Con Rob Souness, from the Plymouth diversity team of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "This is a disgusting act of vandalism and we are fully aware of how shocking this is to the community, and of course to Mr Foot's family and friends.

"Thankfully the graffiti has been removed but we are still investigating this matter." Image caption Mr Foot's godson Alan Lemin called the attack an "act of ignorance" David Downie, Plymouth City Council's cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said: "I and the council completely condemn this appalling act of vandalism on a memorial to one of Plymouth's most famous sons. "Plymouth is a welcoming city, a friendly city. "This minute minority is spoiling it for everyone and it's a disgrace." Tudor Evans, leader of the Labour group on Plymouth City Council, accused the perpetrators of being "nazis" in a tweet. Former Labour director of communications Alastair Campbell said on Twitter : "This is disgusting beyond belief. Michael was a great man and a good friend. This strikes at everything he stood for." Conservative Plymouth Moor View MP Johnny Mercer tweeted : "Tragic. Unacceptable. Michael Foot was a proud son of Plymouth.

This is not us, not Plymouth." Former Labour Devonport MP Alison Seabeck tweeted : "Appalled and disgusted that #michaelfoot memorial in Plymouth has been defaced." Labour party | Article about Labour party by The Free Dictionary Labour party | Article about Labour party by The Free Dictionary British political party, one of the two dominant parties in Great Britain since World War I. Origins The Labour party was founded in 1900 after several generations of preparatory trade union politics made possible by the Reform Bills of 1867 and 1884, which enfranchised urban workers. Although the Labour Representation League, organized in 1869, elected parliamentary representatives, they were absorbed into the Liberal party Liberal party, former British political party, the dominant political party in Great Britain for much of the period from the mid-1800s to World War I. Origins ..... Click the link for more information. . A Marxist organization, the Social Democratic Federation, was founded by H. M. Hyndman Hyndman, Henry Mayers , 1842–1921, English Socialist, an early advocate of Marxism in England. He was a journalist by profession.

In 1881 he founded the parent organization of the Social Democratic Federation, which in 1911 became the British Socialist party, with Hyndman ..... Click the link for more information. in 1881; but more important for the history of the Labour party was the founding of the Fabian Society Fabian Society, British socialist society. An outgrowth of the Fellowship of the New Life (founded 1883 under the influence of Thomas Davidson), the society was developed the following year by Frank Podmore and Edward Pease. ..... Click the link for more information. (1883) and the Independent Labour party (ILP; 1893). With the help of the Fabian Society and the Trades Union Congress, the ILP in 1900 set up the Labour Representation Committee, renamed the Labour party in 1906. The new party elected 29 members to Parliament in 1906; in the two elections of 1910 it elected 40 and 42. Its strength lay in the industrial North and in Welsh mining areas; the evolutionary socialism espoused by the Fabians was the dominant ideology.

1914 to 1945 At the outbreak of World War I, Ramsay MacDonald MacDonald, Ramsay (James Ramsay McDonald), 1866–1937, British statesman, b. Scotland. The illegitimate son of a servant, he went as a young man to London, where he joined the Social Democratic Federation (1885) and the Fabian Society (1886). ..... Click the link for more information. led a pacifist wing of the party, but the majority of the party supported the war effort, and the party's leader, Arthur Henderson Henderson, Arthur, 1863–1935, British statesman, organizer and leader of the British Labour party. In early life he was an ironworker and a labor union leader. Elected (1903) to Parliament, he was chairman of the parliamentary Labour party (1908–10, 1914–17), ..... Click the link for more information. , served in the wartime coalition governments. Until 1918 the party was distinctly a federation of trade unions and socialist groups and had no individual members.

After the war economic depression, the growing political consciousness of the working classes, and the split in the Liberal party gave Labour a national following. In 1918, Labour withdrew completely from the coalition, and in 1922 it became the second largest party in the House of Commons and thus the official opposition. In 1924 the party formed its first ministry, with MacDonald as prime minister. As Labour was a minority in Parliament and depended on Liberal support, the enactment of legislation proved difficult, and the government's domestic program of unemployment relief and housing differed little from that of its Conservative predecessor. Effective primarily in foreign affairs, the ministry recognized the USSR. The party was turned out of office in Oct., 1924, in an election marked by Conservative exploitation of the Zinoviev letter (see under Zinoviev, Grigori Zinoviev, Grigori Evseyevich , 1883–1936, Soviet Communist leader, originally named Radomyslsky. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor party in 1901 and sided with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction after 1903 (see Bolshevism and Menshevism). .....

Click the link for more information. ). In 1929, Labour formed another minority ministry. MacDonald and Philip Snowden Snowden, Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount , 1864–1937, British statesman. Born to poverty, he was a civil service clerk until crippled by a spinal ailment. ..... Click the link for more information. reacted to the severe depression with conservative economic policies that involved reducing unemployment relief. When the majority of the cabinet refused to accede, MacDonald formed (1931) a coalition government, but he and the Labour leaders who joined him were expelled from the party. Heavily defeated in the election of 1931, the Labour party moved slightly to the left, advocating nationalization of major industries and more progressive taxation. In the next few years Labour found new leaders in Clement Attlee (later Earl Attlee Attlee, Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl , 1883–1967, British statesman. Educated at Oxford, he was called to the bar in 1905. ..... Click the link for more information.

), Herbert Morrison, and Ernest Bevin Bevin, Ernest , 1881–1951, British labor leader and statesman. An orphan who earned his own living from childhood, he began a long career as a trade union official when he became secretary of the dockworkers' union in 1911. ..... Click the link for more information. . In the early 1930s the party passed antiwar resolutions and advocated collective security through the League of Nations, but it favored aid to the republican government in the Spanish civil war and eventually came to accept rearmament against the threat from Nazi Germany. After the fall of France to German forces in World War II, Labour agreed to join Winston Churchill's coalition government; Bevin as minister of labor and Attlee as deputy prime minister, together with other Labour ministers, took charge of domestic affairs during the war years. The Postwar Years In 1945 the party won an overwhelming electoral victory, and Attlee became prime minister in Labour's first majority government. The new government nationalized the Bank of England, the fuel and power industries (coal, electricity, gas, and atomic energy), transportation, and most of the iron and steel industry.

It also enacted a comprehensive social security system, which included a national health service. In the areas of colonial and foreign policy, it granted independence to India and Pakistan, Burma (Myanmar), and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and allied itself with the United States in a strong anti-Communist posture. Faced with postwar shortages and the problems of reconstruction, Attlee's government encountered severe financial difficulties, despite American assistance. Rationing continued to be a necessity, economic recovery was slow, and the cost of rearmament increased the strains on the economy. The government barely maintained its majority in the general elections of 1950, and the following year it was defeated by the Conservatives. During the long period of opposition that followed (the Conservatives were returned to power in 1955 and in 1959), the Labour party argued and almost split on questions of disarmament, aid to developing countries, and furtherance of socialism at home. When Attlee and other elder leaders retired and Hugh Gaitskell Gaitskell, Hugh Todd Naylor , 1906–63, British statesman. Educated at Oxford, he taught economics at the Univ. of London.

During World War II he was a civil servant in the new ministry of economic warfare (1940–42) and in the Board of Trade (1942–45). ..... Click the link for more information. became party leader, Aneurin Bevan Bevan, Aneurin , 1897–1960, British political leader. A coal miner and trade unionist, he served (1929–60) in Parliament as a member of the Labour party. As minister of health (1945–51) he administered and developed the National Health Service instituted by the ..... Click the link for more information. , leading the left wing of the party, unsuccessfully contested Gaitskell's position. Although Bevan was soon reconciled with the party leadership, his supporters continued to urge a policy of diplomatic neutralism and unilateral disarmament, in addition to a strong socialist program. The party's right-wing, on the other hand, argued that prosperity had diminished the appeal of socialism to the average worker and that the party should adopt a broader, more pragmatic program.

Gaitskell consolidated his position as leader in the early 1960s, and the party achieved a new solidarity. The 1960s to the Present Harold Wilson Wilson, Harold (James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx), 1916–95, British statesman. A graduate of Oxford, he became an economics lecturer there (1937) and a fellow of University College (1938). ..... Click the link for more information. , who became leader on Gaitskell's death in 1963, was able to lead the party to victory in 1964. He was prime minister until the Conservative party returned to power in 1970. Wilson's administration was marked by a continued decline in Britain's international political and economic position, which gave little opportunity for social innovation. After 1970, the Labour party, in opposition, again found it difficult to present a united front.

The reversal of the party's position on Britain's entry into the European Community (now the European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community (EC), an economic and political confederation of European nations, and other organizations (with the same member nations) ..... Click the link for more information. ), after having earlier supported it, and a renewed call for further nationalization of industry were indications of a greater left-wing militancy within the party. The party returned to power as a result of the elections of Feb., 1974, but as a minority government. Wilson's second administration began renegotiation of the terms of Britain's membership in the European Community and announced plans for large-scale nationalization. Despite continuing economic difficulties he called new elections in Oct., 1974, and Labour won a small majority. James Callaghan Callaghan of Cardiff, Leonard James Callaghan, Baron, 1912–2005, British statesman. He was first elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1945.

As chancellor of the exchequer (1964–67), he introduced extremely controversial taxation policies, including employment ..... Click the link for more information. took over as prime minister following Wilson's resignation in 1976. The party lost power to the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher Thatcher, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, Baroness, 1925–2013, British political leader. Great Britain's first woman prime minister, nicknamed the "Iron Lady" for her uncompromising political stance, Thatcher served longer than any other British prime minister in the 20th ..... Click the link for more information. in the 1979 elections and remained in the opposition until the late 1990s. Michael Foot Foot, Michael, 1913–2010, British politician. He joined the Labour party in the 1930s, entered Parliament in 1945, and served there until 1992. An superb debater and orator, he became an eloquent spokesperson for Labour's radical left wing. ..... Click the link for more information.

became party leader in 1980 but was succeeded by Neil Kinnock Kinnock, Neil Gordon , 1942–, British politician, b. Tredegar, Wales. The son of a miner, he studied at University College, Cardiff. In 1970 he was elected to Parliament as a Labour party member. ..... Click the link for more information. in 1983. Kinnock led the party to abandon some of its traditional left-wing positions but proved unable to achieve victory at the polls. He resigned in 1992 after the Conservative victory in the general elections and was succeeded by John Smith Smith, John, 1938–94, British politician. A barrister, he was first elected to Parliament in 1970 as a Labour party member from Scotland. He served as secretary for trade in 1970 and subsequently as Labour spokesperson on a number of economic and industrial issues, ..... Click the link for more information. . After Smith's untimely death in 1994, moderate Tony Blair Blair, Tony (Anthony Charles Lynton Blair), 1953–, British politician, b. Edinburgh.

An Oxford-educated lawyer, he was first elected to Parliament in 1983 as the Labour party candidate from a district in N England. ..... Click the link for more information. was chosen to lead the party. Under Blair's leadership, the party formally abandoned traditional socialism in 1995 and subsequently won (1997, 2001) consecutive resounding victories at the polls. The party's narrower victory in 2005 marked the first time Labour had won three consecutive national elections. Blair stepped down as party leader and prime minister in 2007, and was succeeded by Gordon Brown Brown, Gordon (James Gordon Brown), 1951–, British politician. From 1975 to 1980 he taught at Edinburgh Univ. and Glasgow College of Technology; he then joined Scottish Television (1980–83) as a journalist. ..... Click the link for more information. . In the 2010 elections Brown and Labour lost to the Conservatives, who won a plurality. Brown resigned the party leadership, and Ed Miliband was elected party leader.

In 2015 Labour did poorly, in part because of the successes of the Scottish National party, and Miliband stepped down. Jeremy Corbyn succeeded him. Bibliography See H. Wilson, The Labour Government 1964–1970 (1971); B. Jones and M. Keating, Labour and the British State (1985); K. Laybourn, The Rise of Labour (1988). Labour Party 1. a British political party, formed in 1900 as an amalgam of various trade unions and socialist groups, generally supporting the interests of organized labour and advocating democratic socialism and social equality 2. any similar party in any of various other countries

Question: Who was the leader of the Labour party from 1980 to 1983?
Answer: Michael Foot