The party has had a chequered history, with the ILP leaving its affiliation in 1932. The party formed a minority government in 1924 and again in 1929-32 with Ramsay MacDonald serving as the first Labour Party Prime Minister, albeit on a minority basis with the help of the Liberal Party. In 1918 the party inserted Clause IV into its constitution which was a vague but nevertheless real commitment to the ‘common ownership’ of the ’means of production, with Ramsay MacDonald becoming the first ever Labour Party Prime Minister in 1924.
In 1945 Labour won the post war election by a landslide with Clement Atlee becoming the first majority Labour Prime Minister defeating Winston Churchill, the ‘wartime leader,’ in a surprise result. Atlee set about nationalising 20% of British industry, perhaps the closest the party ever came to fulfilling Clause IV and introduced the Welfare State including a National Health Service with treatment for all ‘free at the point of need’.
In 1950 the Labour Party won the election again but with a reduced majority, their lead over the Conservative and Unionist Party shrank from 146 seats to just 5. In 1951 Atlee called another general election this time losing to the Tories. They would remain out of office until 1964 when a resurgent Labour won under the leadership of Harold Wilson. They would remain in power until 1970 when the Conservatives under Ted Heath won. Many blamed England’s exit from the 1970 World Cup (going out in the quarter finals to a 3-2 defeat against West Germany) as the cause of Labours defeat?
In 1974 after the trade unions, particularly the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), brought down the Heath administration Wilson was back in Number 10. Heath went to the country asking the question; “who runs the country?” The country answered, “not him”. In 1976 Harold Wilson retired as Labour leader to be replaced in that position and as PM by Jim Callaghan. In 1979 the party relinquished governmental control as Margaret Thatcher and the conservatives won the election of that year. Since the Second World War ended in 1945 until 1979 the British Labour Party had enjoyed seventeen years in government. They would not form a government again until 1997.
Tony Blair in 1995 became leader of the Labour Party and one of his first acts was to abolish Clause IV which had served the party since 1918. To many this was a betrayal of the party’s values and commitment to the working-class. The President of the NUM, Arthur Scargill, commented on this act of betrayal by Blair; “that man in there has just declared war on the working-class” he said. Blair won the 1997 election, calling themselves ‘new Labour’ (Blair wanted the small case n so as it did not appear part of the party’s title), adopting many policies which would not have been out of place in any Conservative manifesto. Margaret Thatcher once said; “New Labour is my greatest achievement” meaning Tory policies were safe in the hands of Blair and his new-fangled party. The Tories were really still in power by proxy. Blair remained in office until 2007, serving ten years as Prime Minister when he was replaced by another ‘Tory in disguise’, Gordon Brown. Brown lost the 2010 election and stood down as leader of the party. Ed Miliband succeeded him and did nothing to change the right-wing direction which Blair and Brown had steered. Miliband, and his brother David, are the sons of the Marxist, Ralph Miliband, author of The State in Capitalist Society (1969) and Marxism and Politics (1977). There is no ‘chip off the old block’ here I’m afraid as Ed and David are certainly not Marxists. Ralph Miliband died in 1994 and is buried, ironically, in Highgate Cemetery near Karl Marx.
Tony Blair in 1995 became leader of the Labour Party and one of his first acts was to abolish Clause IV which had served the party since 1918. To many this was a betrayal of the party’s values and commitment to the working-class. The President of the NUM, Arthur Scargill, commented on this act of betrayal by Blair; “that man in there has just declared war on the working-class” he said. Blair won the 1997 election, calling themselves ‘new Labour’ (Blair wanted the small case n so as it did not appear part of the party’s title), adopting many policies which would not have been out of place in any Conservative manifesto. Margaret Thatcher once said; “New Labour is my greatest achievement” meaning Tory policies were safe in the hands of Blair and his new-fangled party. The Tories were really still in power by proxy. Blair remained in office until 2007, serving ten years as Prime Minister when he was replaced by another ‘Tory in disguise’, Gordon Brown. Brown lost the 2010 election and stood down as leader of the party. Ed Miliband succeeded him and did nothing to change the right-wing direction which Blair and Brown had steered. Miliband, and his brother David, are the sons of the Marxist, Ralph Miliband, author of The State in Capitalist Society (1969) and Marxism and Politics (1977). There is no ‘chip off the old block’ here I’m afraid as Ed and David are certainly not Marxists. Ralph Miliband died in 1994 and is buried, ironically, in Highgate Cemetery near Karl Marx.
In 2015 Ed Miliband stood down as leader of the party having lost the General Election to be replaced by Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn offered a glimmer of hope to socialists and those who wished a united Ireland, which Corbyn did, and does favour, within the party as he tried to steer them back to their traditional left-wing position. Corbyn ran Theresa May’s government a close second, against all the odds, in the 2017 election, cutting her parliamentary working majority from 17 seats to just 4! In 2020 Jeremy Corbyn stood down as Labour leader having lost the 2019 General Election. He was replaced by Keir Starmer, and a return to Blairite conservatism within the Labour Party.
In July 2024 Starmer’s Labour Party won a huge majority in the general election. Starmer enjoys a 174-seat majority winning 412 seats. Nobody could blame the Labour Party members for thinking the days of Clement Atlee and his majority of 1945 are back. They are not! In fact nothing could be further from the truth as already huge cracks are beginning to appear despite this big majority. When the Labour government under Starmer refused to give ‘Winter Fuel Allowance’ to pensioners it caused uproar in the governments ranks. Then came the allegations of ministers taking gifts from rich party donors, something when in opposition they went to great lengths condemning the Conservative government for doing exactly that. Just after becoming leader Starmer expelled former party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, from the parliamentary party as Keir Starmer continued his war an what remains of Labour's left-wing.
In July 2024 Starmer’s Labour Party won a huge majority in the general election. Starmer enjoys a 174-seat majority winning 412 seats. Nobody could blame the Labour Party members for thinking the days of Clement Atlee and his majority of 1945 are back. They are not! In fact nothing could be further from the truth as already huge cracks are beginning to appear despite this big majority. When the Labour government under Starmer refused to give ‘Winter Fuel Allowance’ to pensioners it caused uproar in the governments ranks. Then came the allegations of ministers taking gifts from rich party donors, something when in opposition they went to great lengths condemning the Conservative government for doing exactly that. Just after becoming leader Starmer expelled former party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, from the parliamentary party as Keir Starmer continued his war an what remains of Labour's left-wing.
One of Starmer’s first anti-working-class moves was to suspend seven of his MPs for supporting a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the ‘Two Child Benefit Cap’ which many wanted removing altogether. One of those suspended was former Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell. All the suspended MPs were of Labour's left-wing, or what remains of it. These cuts and refusals to help out working-class people, many of whom voted for the Labour Party under Starmer, have been implemented while at the same time promising 2.5 billion pound to Ukraine in military aid. This is on top of the 4.6 billion already given. No matter how much people may (or may not) support the Ukraine in their war with Russia I doubt they are prepared to watch their children go hungry or pensioners freeze to death during the winter months for them!
During the recent Labour Party conference Prime Minister Starmer had the opportunity to promote some traditional Labour values and policies. He did not take this opportunity, instead he continued to pursue policies which would not be out of place in a Conservative and Unionist Party manifesto! Shortly after this conference, government MP for Canterbury, Rossie Duffield, resigned the party whip. On 28th September Duffield announced her resignation and in her resignation letter she criticised Starmer’s “cruel and unnecessary policies, sleaze and nepotism and apparent avarice”. Duffield was described by The Sunday Times as “the fastest MP to jump ship after a general election in modern political history”. This cannot be seen in any other light than a serious blow to Keir Starmer and his administration. To be fair Duffield is far from criticism herself and has been criticised by several organisations, including “Pride Canterbury” and equalities officers of the Canterbury Labour Party for writing in a tweet; “only women have a cervix”. Comments such as these brought about a cascade of calls from LGBT Labour urging Starmer to “take action”. All these suspensions, resignations and apparent divisions so soon after the election victory does not bode well for the future. Incidentally, the election victory was won on 34% of the vote. Back in 2017 Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party secured 40% of the electorate who voted, almost defeating the Tories - and Starmer kicked him out of the party!
Sometimes on the micro aspects of political ideology people are a little illiterate. On the macro bigger picture which affect their everyday lives people tend to be a little quicker on the uptake as prices continue to rise, their working conditions and wages do not improve as much as expected particularly when the party of government, Labour, once sworn to change all these negatives fail to deliver. Often when this occurs, as was the case in Britain 1979 when the Labour administration of James Callaghan failed to solve the “winter of discontent,” the electorate voted in a reactionary government which was the case with the election of the far-right reactionary, Margaret Thatcher. If Starmer does not get this right, and the early signs are not good, and people’s expectations are not met, he may pay dearly at the ballot box the next time out!
For me the early demise of the British Labour Party began in 1995 the moment Tony Bair “declared war on the working-class” when he abolished and replaced Clause IV. This was the beginning of Labour taking a right-wing trajectory becoming increasingly indistinguishable from the Conservative and Unionist Party. Today, with present leader and Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, continuing on this right-wing path the party, it could be argued, are to the right of the Liberal Democrats. Could this signal, after the election victory pandemonium has died down, a return to the early twentieth century alignment of British party politics between the Conservatives and Liberals? Or, on the other hand, could there be a new right-wing alignment between Reform UK and a resurgent Conservative and Unionist Party?
During the recent Labour Party conference Prime Minister Starmer had the opportunity to promote some traditional Labour values and policies. He did not take this opportunity, instead he continued to pursue policies which would not be out of place in a Conservative and Unionist Party manifesto! Shortly after this conference, government MP for Canterbury, Rossie Duffield, resigned the party whip. On 28th September Duffield announced her resignation and in her resignation letter she criticised Starmer’s “cruel and unnecessary policies, sleaze and nepotism and apparent avarice”. Duffield was described by The Sunday Times as “the fastest MP to jump ship after a general election in modern political history”. This cannot be seen in any other light than a serious blow to Keir Starmer and his administration. To be fair Duffield is far from criticism herself and has been criticised by several organisations, including “Pride Canterbury” and equalities officers of the Canterbury Labour Party for writing in a tweet; “only women have a cervix”. Comments such as these brought about a cascade of calls from LGBT Labour urging Starmer to “take action”. All these suspensions, resignations and apparent divisions so soon after the election victory does not bode well for the future. Incidentally, the election victory was won on 34% of the vote. Back in 2017 Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party secured 40% of the electorate who voted, almost defeating the Tories - and Starmer kicked him out of the party!
Sometimes on the micro aspects of political ideology people are a little illiterate. On the macro bigger picture which affect their everyday lives people tend to be a little quicker on the uptake as prices continue to rise, their working conditions and wages do not improve as much as expected particularly when the party of government, Labour, once sworn to change all these negatives fail to deliver. Often when this occurs, as was the case in Britain 1979 when the Labour administration of James Callaghan failed to solve the “winter of discontent,” the electorate voted in a reactionary government which was the case with the election of the far-right reactionary, Margaret Thatcher. If Starmer does not get this right, and the early signs are not good, and people’s expectations are not met, he may pay dearly at the ballot box the next time out!
For me the early demise of the British Labour Party began in 1995 the moment Tony Bair “declared war on the working-class” when he abolished and replaced Clause IV. This was the beginning of Labour taking a right-wing trajectory becoming increasingly indistinguishable from the Conservative and Unionist Party. Today, with present leader and Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, continuing on this right-wing path the party, it could be argued, are to the right of the Liberal Democrats. Could this signal, after the election victory pandemonium has died down, a return to the early twentieth century alignment of British party politics between the Conservatives and Liberals? Or, on the other hand, could there be a new right-wing alignment between Reform UK and a resurgent Conservative and Unionist Party?
I hope I’m wrong on both counts having been brought up in a Labour household back in the days of Harold Wilson, Huddersfield Town FC (Wilson's football team) and the statement “this will not affect the pound in your pocket”. I hope Starmer catches himself on, pays the winter fuel allowance, scraps the cap on child benefits and lifts the suspensions on the seven MPs thus moving the party back in a traditional political direction for Labour. This is what I would like to see, the reality is, I fear, something different. What would Starmer’s namesake, James Keir Hardie, one of the founders of the Labour Party in Britain and first party leader, have to say of the modern variant? Or are the events of modern times the inevitable consequences of a party with such a broad-church membership? The removal of Clause IV may have been the first nail in Labours coffin but will Keir Starmer prove to be the last?
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
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