POLITICAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Political Marketing Campaign Labour Party UK

Political Marketing Campaign Labour Party UK

Labour party United Kingdom

The UK Independent Labour Party emerged from an informal coalition with the Liberals in 1893, while the Labour Party as we know it was founded in 1900, as a combination of all democratic socialist groups in the UK, including trade unions, the Fabian Society, the Independent Labour Party and the left-oriented Social Democratic Federation. Other labour parties were formed in imitation of it, in various parts of the British Empire and (subsequently) Commonwealth, and Norway and Israel have both developed labour parties on the UK model (Abbe & Herrnson, 2003, pp. 233-256).

In so far as they have achieved an identifiable political character it was, at least until recently, captured by the following features:

Explicit appeal to the working-class vote;

Affiliation with, and even partial direction by, the trade unions, with important constitutional provisions to preserve the relative autonomy of the parliamentary party;

Belief in representational government through democratic election, and in the constitution and institutions (such as parliament) that will be necessary for that end;

Belief in a planned economy, with the increasing use of government power to direct industry, to ensure economic growth and full employment, and to bring about a more equitable distribution of property and opportunity. For the most part this has involved the advocacy of the nationalization of key private assets, and the furtherance of a mixed economy;

Belief in the redistribution of wealth, usually through taxation, and the abolition of privilege (especially privilege which stems from class) in all fields, especially education and the professions;

Belief in the development of a welfare state;

The commitment to democracy, not only as a principle of government, but also as a necessary part of the just administration of all institutions, however subordinate. This last feature is part of the undercurrent of liberalism which motivates much labour-party thinking.

On the whole, labour parties have shown themselves to be constitutionalist in their activities, fairly conservative in their economic policy, and highly respectful towards popular symbols of government, such as the UK monarchy. Conflicts within the UK party arose during the 1970s and 1980s, partly because those on the left either rejected that constitutionalist and parliamentarian stance, or else were believed to reject it by those on the right. The conflict led to the formation of the first social democrat party within the UK Parliament (Bannon, 2003, 138-51).

The success of Thatcherism and the world-wide flight from socialist ways of thinking have subsequently led to a radical redrawing of the Labour Party's programme. What used to be its two most fundamental commitments - to social ownership of the means of production ('Clause 4' of the original constitution) and to close ties with the trade union movement, amounting in certain matters to virtual control by the union élites - have now been effectively rejected, and the Party has reconstituted itself as a reforming liberal party. See New Labour. Labour Parties elsewhere, for the most part taking the British party as their model, as in Australia ...