The History of the Labour Party
The Labour Party is a major political party in Great Britain that follows a democratic socialist ideology. The party, currently led by Gordon Brown, was founded shortly after the start of the 20th century. It has been the ruling party in Britain since 1997, when it won its first general election victory in 23 years under the leadership of Tony Blair.
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Origins
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The Labour Party, as its name suggests, grew out of the labour movement of the early Industrial Age, when factory and other blue-collar workers banded together in trade unions to campaign for fair treatment and wages. Working people, union organizers and socialists came together at a founding conference in London in February 1900 and created the Labour Representation Committee, which for the next 16 years worked closely with Liberal Party governments to further labour's cause. Indeed, for the first six years of its life, Labour wasn't even an official party; that designation wouldn't come until 1906.
Early Rule
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When the Liberal Party split in 1916, Labour partisans seized the opportunity to fill what they perceived as a void. The party steadily gained momentum, and seats in Parliament. Then, in 1924, the ruling Conservative Party (known as Tories) lost nearly 90 seats, and its leader, Stanley Baldwin, felt that without the mandate he had desired, he would refrain from forming a government. Though Labor had won 57 fewer seats than the Tories, George V, the king of England, asked Labour leader Ramsay MacDonald to form a government. The first Labour government, which took office in January 1924, lasted less than a year, but during that time achieved several key objectives, including passing legislation on housing, education, unemployment and social insurance. But after the Daily Mail newspaper published false accusations linking Labour with Russian communists, Labour fell from grace, and the Tories returned to power. Five years later, Labour was back in charge, but rising unemployment and a troubled economy--both fallout from the worldwide economic collapse of 1929--put them out of power again in 1931.
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The 1930s and 1940s
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Labour Party leaders worked hard to rebuild the party after the crushing 1931 defeat. As World War II broke out and Winston Churchill became prime minister, Labour was invited to join the government in a war-time coalition. After the war, Labour's call, "Let Us Face the Future," caught on with voters hungry for change, and Labour won a landslide victory in 1945 that for the first time ever gave it a true majority in Parliament.
The 1950s and 1960s
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The Labour Party's own website concedes that by 1950, the party "appeared to have run out of steam," even though it had achieved most of its goals from the "Let Us Face the Future" campaign. The economy again took a turn for the worse, and Labour got the blame. The Tories triumphed in the 1951 elections, and Labour would remain an opposition party for 13 years. In 1964, new party leader Harold Wilson guided Labour to a narrow victory over the Conservatives, thanks in large part to a series of scandals. Wilson remained Prime Minister until 1970, pushing forth an agenda of modernization and social change not unlike U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Wilson's plan was called "The New Britain." Under Wilson, Britain's Parliament legalized abortion, divorce and homosexuality, and abolished capital punishment.
The 1970s and 1980s
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The Conservatives won the elections again in 1970, defying pollster predictions and riding a wave of support for Conservative Party leader Edward Heath's vow to take Britain into the Common Market. But rising inflation and unemployment led the Tories to fall from power again in 1974. Wilson served two more years as prime minister, then resigned. Labour remained in power, but the worsening economy and a series of strikes by public and transportation workers led the Tories, under Margaret Thatcher, to regain control of government in 1979. Labour would again endure a long stint as an opposition party, this time for 18 years.
The 1990s and Beyond
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After a series of internal struggles that saw Labour leadership zig-zagging from left to right and back again, Tony Blair, a member of Parliament since 1983, assumed control of the party in 1994 and, at a strategy conference a year later, called for a move to the center. His efforts were successful, and a kinder, gentler Labour Party won the 1997 elections in a landslide, winning by a majority of 179 seats. Blair's government introduced a national minimum wage, created 1 million jobs and cut class sizes in primary schools, according to the party website. Labour has been in charge ever since, though Blair's star, both domestically and abroad, dimmed with his unabashed support of the U.S. war with Iraq. Blair resigned in 2007 and was replaced, both as party leader and as prime minister, by Gordon Brown.
Gordon Brown
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Gordon Brown was born in 1951 and studied at Edinburgh University, where he earned a Ph.D in history. Brown was elected to Parliament in 1983, representing an area of Scotland where he grew up and where his family roots go back 300 years, in Kirkcaldy. Brown also has authored a number of books, including a biography of Scottish socialist James Maxton, and co-authored a study of poverty and inequality.
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