|
:''For the 1912 ''Treaty of Lausanne'' between Italy and the Ottoman Empire (signed on 18 October, 1912 in [[Ouchy]]), see the [[Italo-Turkish War]].''
{{Infobox_British_Political_Party |
[[Image:Turkey-Greece-Bulgaria on Treaty of Lausanne.png|280px|thumb|Borders as shaped by the treaty]]
party_name = Labour Party |
The '''Treaty of Lausanne''' ([[July 24]], [[1923]]) was a [[peace treaty]] signed in [[Lausanne]] that settled the [[Anatolia]]n part of the [[partitioning of the Ottoman Empire]] by annulment of the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] signed by the [[Ottoman Empire]] as the consequences of the [[Turkish Independence War]] between [[Allies of World War I]] and [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] ([[Turkish national movement]]).
party_articletitle = Labour Party (UK) |
party_logo = [[Image:Labour Party.png|200px|"Labour Rose" logo]] |
leader = [[Tony Blair]] |
foundation = [[February 7]], [[1900]] |
ideology = [[Democratic Socialism]] | (debatable)
international = [[Socialist International]] |
european = [[Party of European Socialists]] |
europarl = [[Party of European Socialists|PES]] |
colours = [[Red]]|
headquarters = 16 Old Queen Street<br>[[London]], SW1H 9HP |
website = [http://www.labour.org.uk/ www.labour.org.uk]
}}
'''The Labour Party''' is the principal [[centre-left]] political party in the [[United Kingdom]] (see [[British politics]]). It is one of the [[United Kingdom]]'s three main [[political party|political parties]] and is currently the party of [[government]] in the United Kingdom. It describes itself as a [[Democratic Socialist]] party and is a member of the [[Socialist International]]. Under the leadership of [[Tony Blair]] it won by a [[landslide victory]] in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 general election]], and formed its first government since the [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979 general election]]. It retained its position with two further large victories in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001]] and the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]] general elections. Under Blair's leadership, the party has adopted a number of liberal policies.
==Overview & negotiations==
==Structure==
{{main|Conference of Lausanne}}
[[Image:BlairL.jpg|thumb|[[Tony Blair]], Leader of the Labour Party since 1994]]
{{Seealso|Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire|Turkish Independence War}}
The Labour Party is a membership organisation consisting of [[Constituency Labour Parties]], [[affiliated trade unions]] and [[socialist societies]], including the [[Co-operative Party]], with which it has an electoral agreement. Members who are elected to parliamentary positions take part in the [[Parliamentary Labour Party]] (PLP) and European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP). The party's decision-making bodies, on a national level, formally include the [[National Executive Committee]] (NEC), [[Labour Party Conference]], and [[National Policy Forum]] (NPF) - although in practice the Parliamentary leadership has the final say. Questions of internal party democracy have frequently provoked disputes in the party.
After the expulsion of the Greek forces by the Turkish army under the command of Mustafa Kemal (later [[Kemal Atatürk]]), the newly-founded Turkish government rejected the recently signed [[Treaty of Sèvres]].
Negotiations performed during [[Conference of Lausanne]] which [[İsmet İnönü]] was the lead negotiator for Turkey and [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] was his Greek counterpart. Negotiations took many months. On [[October 20]] [[1922]] the peace conference was reopened, and after strenuous debates, it was once again interrupted by Turkish protest on [[February 4]] [[1923]]. After reopening on [[April 23]], and more protest by Kemal's government, the treaty was signed on [[July 24]] after eight months of arduous negotiation by allies such as US Admiral [[Mark L. Bristol]], who served as United States High Commissioner and championed Turkish efforts.
For many years, Labour had a policy of [[Ireland|Irish]] unity by consent, and did not allow residents of [[Northern Ireland]] to apply for membership, instead supporting the nationalist [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP). The 2003 Labour Party Conference accepted legal advice that the party could not continue to prohibit residents of the province joining, but the National Executive has decided not to organise or contest elections there.
==The stipulations of treaty ==
==Early years==
The treaty is composed of 141 articles with major sections;<ref name=Mango>Andrew Mango Ataturk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey ISBN 158567334X page. 388</ref>
* Convention on the Turkish straits
* Trade ([[Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire|abolition of capitulations]])
* [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey]]
* Agreements
* Binding letters.
The treaty provided for the independence of the Republic of Turkey but also for the protection of the ethnic [[Greeks in Turkey|Greek minority in Turkey]] and the mainly ethnically Turkish [[Muslim minority of Greece|Muslim minority in Greece]]. Much of the Greek population of Turkey was [[Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey|exchanged]] with the Turkish population of Greece. The Greeks of Istanbul, [[Imbros]] and [[Tenedos]] were excluded (about 270,000 in Istanbul alone at that time [http://www.hri.org/MFA/foreign/bilateral/minority.htm]), and so were the Muslim population of [[Western Thrace]] (about 86,000 [http://www.hri.org/MFA/foreign/musmingr.htm] in 1922). Article 14 of the treaty granted the islands of [[Imbros]] and [[Tenedos]] "[[autonomy|special administrative organisation]]", a right that was revoked by the Turkish government on 17 February 1926. The republic of Turkey also accepted the loss of [[Cyprus]] to the [[British Empire]]. The fate of the province of [[Mosul]] was left to be determined through the [[League of Nations]].
The Labour Party's origins lie in the late 19th century, when it became apparent that there was an increasing need for a third party in Britain to represent the interests and needs of the large [[working-class]] population (for instance, the [[1899]] [[Lyons vs. Wilkins]] judgement that limited certain types of picketing). Some members of the trade union movement were interested in moving into the political field and after the extension of the franchise to working class men in [[1867]] and [[1885]], the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] had endorsed some trade union-sponsored candidates. In addition several small socialist groups had been formed which wanted to link to the movement and give it a wider policy. Among these were the [[Independent Labour Party]], the [[Fabian Society]] (an intellectual group whose members were mainly [[middle-class]]), the [[Social Democratic Federation]] and the [[Scottish Labour Party (1888-1893)|Scottish Labour Party]].
===Borders===
British politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was divided between the perceived 'establishment', represented by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] (nicknamed the [[Tory|Tories]]), and a more radical 'non-conformist' tradition, based around for example [[Wales|Welsh]] and North Midlands [[Methodism]]. The non-conformist tradition was embodied by the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] under leaders like [[William Ewart Gladstone]] and [[David Lloyd George]]. After the ''Representation of The People Act, 1884'', most adult men had the vote but about 40% were still unenfranchised, mainly among the working class who would be more likely to support parties of the left.
The treaty delimited the boundaries of [[Greece]], [[Bulgaria]], and [[Turkey]], formally ceded all Turkish claims on [[Cyprus]], [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]], and (along with the [[Treaty of Ankara (1921)|Treaty of Ankara]]) settled the boundaries of the latter two nations. The treaty also led to international recognition of the sovereignty of the new [[Republic of Turkey]] as the [[successor state]] of the defunct Ottoman Empire.
===Agreements===
[[Image:jameskeirhardie.jpg|thumb|James Keir Hardie, one of Labour's first MPs]]In [[1899]] a [[Doncaster]] member of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Thomas R. Steels, proposed in his union branch that the [[Trade Union Congress]] call a special conference to bring together all the left-wing organisations and form them into a single body which would sponsor Parliamentary candidates. The motion was passed at all stages including by the TUC and this special conference was held at the International Hall, Farringdon Street, [[London]] on [[February 27]]-[[February 28|28]], [[1900]]. The meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations; trade unions representing about one-third of the membership of the TUC sent delegates.
Among many agreements, there was a separate agreement with the United States, [[Chester concession]]. US Senate refused to ratify the treaty and consequently Turkey annulled the concession.<ref name=Mango/>
==Aftermath==
The Conference created an association called the [[Labour Representation Committee]], and it was to have acted as a body coordinating attempts to elect to Parliament members who had been sponsored by [[trade union]]s as representing the working-class population. It had no single leader. In default of any other candidate, the Independent Labour Party's nominee [[Ramsay MacDonald]] was elected as Secretary. He had the difficult task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October [[1900]] 'Khaki election' came too soon for the new party to effectively campaign. Only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful: [[Keir Hardie]] in [[Merthyr Tydfil]] and [[Richard Bell]] in [[Derby]].
The Convention on the Turkish straits lasted only thirteen years and was replaced with [[Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits]]. The custom limitations in the treaty shortly rewoked. Political amnesty is applied. [[150 personae non gratae of Turkey|150 persona non grata of Turkey]] slowly acquired the citizenship which the last one was in 1974 to the descendants of the former dynasty.
Since signing the treaty, both Turkey and Greece have claimed that the other has violated its provisions. Greece has seen its ethnic minority population in Turkey diminish from several hundred thousand in 1923 to just a couple of thousands today, and claims that this was caused by the systematic enforcement of anti-minority measures.<ref>[http://chicago.agrino.org/turkish_pogrom_against_the_greeks.htm Measures claimed to have caused the diminish of the Greek minority in Turkey]</ref> Turkey closed the [[Halki seminary]], which is in direct contradiction to the treaty which stipulates religious freedom.
Two candidates from the Social Democratic Federation were endorsed but the SDF was unhappy with the essentially compromising agenda of the Labour Representation Committee. At the SDF's [[1901]] conference it voted to withdraw. However support for the LRC among the trade unions was boosted by the [[1901]] [[Taff Vale case]], a dispute between strikers and a railway company that ended with the union ordered to pay £23,000 damages for a strike. The judgment effectively made strikes illegal (since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions). The apparent acquiescence of the Conservative government of [[Arthur Balfour]] intensified support for the LRC against a government that appeared uninterested in the problems of working people. In the 1902-03 period the LRC won two by-elections.
Ultimately, [[Winston Churchill]] who had a damaged career because of his failure at the [[Battle of Gallipoli]], during which he had urged the Armenian population to rebel with vague promises to divert manpower from his failure during that battle,<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/turkey/story/0,,1921272,00.html</ref> and his inability to be able to enforce the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] even though managed to dismantle [[Ottoman Empire]] with the [[occupation of Istanbul]] remarked: “In the Lausanne Treaty, which established a new peace between the allies and Turkey, history will search in vain for the name Armenia.”<ref>Winston Churchill, The World Crisis, vol. V, London, 1929, p. 408</ref>
[[Image: LabourPartyPlaque.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Labour Party Plaque from Caroone House 8 Farringdon Street (demolished 2004)]]
The LRC won 29 seats in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1906|1906 election]], helped by the secret [[1903]] pact between [[Ramsay Macdonald]] and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Chief Whip [[Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone|Herbert Gladstone]] which aimed at avoiding Labour/Liberal contests in the interest of removing the Conservatives from office. In their first meeting after the election, the group's Members of Parliament decided to take the name "The Labour Party" ([[February 15]], [[1906]]). [[James Keir Hardie]], who had taken a leading role in getting the party established, was elected as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (in effect, the Leader), although only by one vote over [[David Shackleton]] after several ballots. In the party's early years, the [[Independent Labour Party]] (ILP) provided much of its activist base as the party did not have an individual membership until [[1918]] and operated as a conglomerate of affiliated bodies until that date. The [[Fabian Society]] provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement.
In [[1909]] the [[Osbourne judgment]] ruled that Trade Unions could not raise funds for political purposes, a move which threatened one of Labour's main funding sources. This was especially detrimental to the Labour party as it supporters were generally poorer than other political parties. The two elections in [[1910]] saw Labour gain 40 seats and 42 seats respectively. In [[1911]] David Lloyd George gave MPs a wage of £400 per annum, which partly helped to alleviate the financial problems and the Osbourne judgment was overturned in [[1913]].
Support grew for Labour during the 1910-1914 period as a result of an unprecedented scale of strike action. [[National Union of Seamen|Seamen]], [[National Union of Railwaymen|rail workers]], [[cotton]] workers, [[coal]] [[National Union of Mineworkers|miners]], [[Dockers' Union (UK)|dockers]] and many other groups all organised strikes, with many sympathy strikes also occurring. This increase in action can partly be explained by the recession of 1908-09 and subsequent rise in unemployment, as well as the growing support for radical change among the working-class (such as support for [[syndicalism]]). This was no doubt helped by the sometimes heavy-handed measures of the Liberal government; [[Winston Churchill]] sent in troops to the [[Rhondda valley]] in 1910 to deal with coal miners, resulting in some fatalities.
During the [[First World War]] the Liberal Party split between factions supporting leader David Lloyd George and former leader [[Herbert Asquith]]. At the end of the war universal adult male suffrage was enacted, together with votes for women over the age of 30. The Liberal split, accompanied by this fundamental change in the system, allowed the Labour Party to co-opt some of The Liberals support, and by the [[United Kingdom general election, 1922|1922 general election]] Labour had supplanted the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] as the main opposition to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]]. With the Liberals still in turmoil, Labour formed its first minority government with Liberal support in [[January]] [[1924]], with [[Ramsay MacDonald]] as [[Prime Minister]]; the government collapsed after nine months when the Liberals voted for a Select Committee inquiry which MacDonald had declared an issue of confidence but the Liberal electoral base had vanished. The ensuing [[united Kingdom general election, 1924|general election]] saw the publication four days before polling day of the [[Zinoviev Letter]] implicating Labour in a plot for a Communist revolution, and the Conservatives returned to power. The Zinoviev letter is now generally believed to have been a forgery.
[[Image:Oldlabour2.gif|right|thumb|130px|the original 'liberty' logo, in use until 1983]]
==The split under MacDonald==
The [[United Kingdom general election, 1929|election of May 1929]] saw Labour returned for the first time as the largest party in the House of Commons, and Ramsay MacDonald formed a second Liberal-backed government, though Labour's lack of a parliamentary majority again prevented it from carrying out its desired legislative programme.
The [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|financial crisis of 1931]] caused a disastrous split in the party, with MacDonald and a few senior ministers going into alliance with the Conservatives and Liberals as the "National Government" ([[August 24]], [[1931]]) while most of the party rank-and-file went into opposition under the leadership of first [[George Lansbury]] and (from [[1935]]) [[Clement Attlee]]. The ILP under [[James Maxton]] disaffiliated from the Labour Party in [[1932]], removing a substantial proportion of the left of the party from membership.
While MacDonald's "National Labour" following dwindled to a small parliamentary appendage to the Conservatives, opposition Labour rapidly regained most of the party's former electoral support, and entered the [[World War II|wartime]] coalition government of [[Winston Churchill]] ([[May]] [[1940]]) on terms of near equality with the Conservative majority.
==Post-War victory to the 1960s==
[[Image:Catlee.jpg|frame|right|Labour Prime Minister 1945-1951, [[Clement Attlee]]]]
With the end of the war in Europe in [[May]] [[1945]], Labour resolved not to repeat the Liberals' error of [[1918]], and withdrew from the government to contest the [[United Kingdom general election, 1945|subsequent general election]] (July 5) in opposition to Churchill's Conservatives. Surprisingly to many (especially overseas) observers, Labour won a landslide majority, reflecting voters' perception of it as the party to carry through wartime promises of reform. The results were announced on [[July 26]]; Labour won 48% of the vote and a landslide Parliamentary majority of 146 seats.
Clement Attlee's government was one of the most radical British governments of the 20th century. It presided over a policy of selective [[nationalisation]] (the [[Bank of England]], coal, electricity, gas, the [[railways]] and iron & steel). It developed a "cradle to grave" [[welfare state]] under health minister [[Aneurin Bevan]]. The party still considers the creation in [[1948]] of Britain's tax funded [[National Health Service]] its proudest achievement.
Attlee's government however became split, over, amongst other things, the amount of money Britain was spending on defence (which reached 10% of GDP in 1950 due to the [[Korean War]]). [[Aneurin Bevan]] eventually quit the government over this issue. The government also faced a fuel crisis and a balance of payments crisis. Labour narrowly lost power to the Conservatives in October [[United Kingdom general election, 1951|1951]], despite winning more votes.
Throughout the [[1950s]] and early 1960s the party became split between moderate modernisers led by [[Hugh Gaitskell]] and more traditional [[socialist]] elements within the party. This split, and the fact that the public was broadly content with the Conservative governments of the period, kept the party out of power for thirteen years.
However, in the early 1960s, a series of scandals such as the [[Profumo affair]] engulfed the Conservative government, which damaged its popularity. The Conservative party was also seen as being out of touch with the changing country and the economy began to turn down. Due largely to this, the Labour party returned to government under [[Harold Wilson]] in [[United Kingdom general election, 1964|1964]] and remained in power until [[United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970]].
[[Image:haroldwilson.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Labour Prime Minister 1964-1970, [[Harold Wilson]]]]
The [[1960s]] Labour government, though claiming to be far less radical on economic policy than its [[1940s]] predecessor, introduced several social changes, such as the partial legalisation of [[homosexuality]] and the abolition of the [[death penalty]]. In the [[United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970 general election]], [[Edward Heath]]'s Conservatives narrowly defeated Harold Wilson's government. Wilson's party won power again in [[United Kingdom general election, 1974 (February)|February 1974]]. After possessing a minority government, they achieved a small majority in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1974 (October)|October 1974]]-- also under Harold Wilson.
==The 1970s==
The [[1970s]] proved to be a disastrous time to be in government, and faced with a world-wide economic downturn and a badly suffering British economy, the Labour Government would be forced to go to the [[IMF]] for a loan to ease them through their financial troubles. However, conditions attached to the loan meant the adoption of a more liberal economic programme by the Labour Government, meaning a move away from the party's traditional policy base.
The 1970s were also dogged by a host of industrial problems, including widespread [[Strike action|strike]]s and [[trade union]] militancy. The Labour Party's close ties to the increasingly unpopular trade unions caused the party to gradually lose support throughout the decade.
In [[1976]], citing his desire to retire on his sixtieth birthday, Wilson stood down as Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, and was replaced by [[James Callaghan]]. In the same year as Callaghan became leader, the party in [[Scotland]] suffered the breakaway of two MPs into the [[Scottish Labour Party]] (SLP). This breakaway was prompted by dissatisfaction with the lack of progress being made by the then Labour government on delivering a devolved Scottish Assembly. Whilst ultimately the SLP proved no real threat to the Labour Party's strong Scottish electoral base it did show that people were beginning to think of breaking with the mainstream UK Labour Party,
Ultimately, the economic problems facing the Labour Government of the [[1970s]], and the political difficulties of Scottish and Welsh devolution, proved too great for it to surmount despite an arrangement negotiated in 1977 with the Liberals known as the [[Lib-Lab Pact]]. In [[1979]], they faced the disastrous "[[Winter of Discontent]]", and in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979 general election]] they suffered electoral defeat to the [[The Conservative Party|Conservatives]], led by [[Margaret Thatcher]].
==The Thatcher years==
The aftermath of the election defeat in 1979 provoked a period of bitter internal rivalry in Labour. From the mid 1970s, the party had became bitterly divided between left wingers under [[Michael Foot]] and [[Tony Benn]], whose supporters dominated the party organisation at grassroots level, and right wingers under [[Denis Healey]]. After the defeat, the left had the upper hand when it asserted that the government had become unpopular because it had alienated its base by compromising, and needed to regain it by moving to a more left-wing policy.
The election of Foot to the leadership and the change to a system of leadership elections in which party activists and affiliated trade unions had a vote led to the decision by the [[Gang_of_Four_%28disambiguation%29|Gang of Four]] (former Labour cabinet ministers) on [[January 26]], [[1981]] to issue the 'Limehouse Declaration', and then to form the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]]. The Gang of Four were [[Roy Jenkins]], [[David Owen]], [[Shirley Williams]] and [[Bill Rodgers (politician)|William Rodgers]]. The departure of even more right-wingers further swung the party to the left, but not quite enough to allow Tony Benn to be elected as Deputy Leader when he challenged for the job at the September 1981 party conference. In response to the [[Troubles]] in [[Northern Ireland]], the party committed itself to "campaign actively" for a [[United Ireland]].
[[Image:Labour83.GIF|right|thumb|160px|Logo introduced in 1983 after Labour's disastrous election campaign]]
===1983===
Led by Michael Foot, who was increasingly unpopular with the public, the party went into the [[United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983 general election]] with a manifesto dominated by the politics of the party's left-wing, but considered by some socialists to be too watered down by Foot's indecisiveness and pressure from the party's right-wing to be truly convincing. The manifesto contained pledges to unilaterally disarm Britain's nuclear deterrent, withdraw from the [[European Community]] (EC), and pledged a programme of mass [[nationalisation]] of industry. A symptom of the divisions in the party was that the leading members of the right-wing had not resisted the manifesto, because they hoped that what they saw as an impending inevitable landslide defeat would discredit the policies. The 1983 manifesto was famously described by the senior Labour politician [[Gerald Kaufman]] as being 'the longest suicide note in history'.
The right-wing press wasted no time in attacking the party's manifesto, and Labour's chances of electoral success were further damaged by the fact that the Thatcher government's popularity was on the rise after successfully guiding the country to victory in the [[Falklands War]]. This bolstered Thatcher who had been low in the polls due to a severe economic downturn.
After suffering a landslide defeat at the 1983 election, Michael Foot immediately resigned. He was replaced by [[Neil Kinnock]], who though initially a firebrand left-winger, had generally supported Foot and was seen as a more pragmatic leader. Through his leadership Kinnock progressively moved the party to the centre. He vastly intensified moves to expel left groups such as the [[Militant Tendency]] which represented left-wing views no longer supported by the party leadership, and further changed party policy to support EC membership. From [[1985]], [[Peter Mandelson]] as Director of Communications modernised the party's image.
===1987===
At the [[United Kingdom general election, 1987|1987 general election]], the party was again defeated in a landslide, but had established itself as the clear challengers to the Conservatives and had fought an effective campaign. Kinnock easily retained the party leadership when challenged from the left in [[1988]] and continued his reform of the party. The Labour Party ceased to be unilateralist in early [[1989]], and embarked on a thorough Policy Review.
===1992===
By the time of the [[United Kingdom general election, 1992|1992 general election]], the party had reformed to such an extent that it was perceived as a credible candidate for government. Most opinion polls during the campaign showed the party with a slight lead over the Conservatives although rarely with a lead sufficient to give a majority. However, the party ended up 8% behind the Conservatives in the popular vote, a result which was considered one of the biggest surprises in British electoral history. In the party's post mortem on why it had lost, it was considered that the 'Shadow Budget' announced by [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] had opened the way for Conservatives to attack the party for wanting to raise taxes. In addition Neil Kinnock's seeming triumphalism at a party rally in [[Sheffield]] eight days before polling day gave the impression that victory had already been achieved.
Kinnock resigned after the defeat, blaming the overwhelming preponderance of Conservative-supporting newspapers for Labour's failure. [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]], despite his involvement with the Shadow Budget, was easily elected to succeed him over [[Bryan Gould]] who was identified with the soft left. Smith's leadership saw a degree of tension between those who preferred progressive change and others who identified as 'modernisers' and advocated a further wholesale revision of the party's stance. At the [[1993]] conference, Smith successfully changed the party rules so that trade unions had less say in the selection of candidates to stand for Parliament by introducing a [[one member, one vote]] system, but only just carried the day after a barnstorming speech by [[John Prescott]] and compromising on other matters in individual negotiations. However in May 1994, Smith died suddenly from a heart attack.
==New Labour==
"New Labour" is an alternative name for Labour Party which originated in 1994. The name is primarily used by the party itself in its literature but is also sometimes used by political commentators and the wider [[mass media|media]]; it was also the basis of a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] poster campaign of 1997, headlined "New Labour, New Danger". The rise of the name coincided with a rightwards shift of the British political spectrum; for Labour, this was a continuation of the trend that had begun under the leadership of [[Neil Kinnock]]. "Old Labour" is sometimes used by commentators to describe the older, more left-wing members of the party, or those with strong Trade Union connections.
The name "New Labour" originates from a conference slogan first used by the Labour Party in [[1994]], which was later seen in a draft [[manifesto]] published by the party in [[1996]], called ''New Labour, New Life For Britain''. However the term was intended to incorporate a wider [[brand|rebranding]] of the party in the eyes of the electorate. The new name coincided with the re-writing of [[Clause IV]] of the party's constitution in [[1995]]. [[Peter Mandelson]] was a senior figure in this process, and exercised a great deal of authority in the party following the death of [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] and the subsequent election of [[Tony Blair]] as party leader.
[[Tony Blair]], [[Gordon Brown]], [[Peter Mandelson]] and [[Alastair Campbell]] are most commonly cited as the creators and architects of the New Labour ethos. They were among the most prominent advocates of the right-wing shift in European [[social democracy]] during the [[1990s]], known as the "[[Third Way]]". The use of "New" echoes slogans in [[Politics of the United States|American politics]], particularly those of the Democratic Party, such as [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]], [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy's]] [[New Frontier]]
and [[Bill Clinton|Clinton's]] [[New Covenant]].
New Labour (as a series of values) is often characterised as a belief in 'rights and duties', i.e. that a citizen should recognise that s/he possesses responsibilities linked with any legal rights they hold. The concept of a 'stakeholder society' is quite prominent in New Labour thinking. As noted above, New Labour thought also embraces the notion of the "Third Way", although critics pointed to the lack of any concise statement of its meaning, and the term later fell from use. Labour's economic policy sought to balance the laissez-faire capitalism of the Thatcherite era with measures that would lessen or reverse their negative impact on society. One of the most popular policies introduced was Britain's first [[National Minimum Wage Act]].
Tony Blair secured the revision of [[Clause IV]] of the party constitution, which had been adopted in [[1918]], and which committed the party to 'the [[common ownership]] of the means of production'. This was widely interpreted in the past as a policy of [[nationalisation]]:
:"To secure for all the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry of service."
A special conference of the party approved the change in [[March]] [[1995]]. The key phrase of the new clause IV is:
:"The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each one of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect."
An earlier attempt to modify clause IV, by [[Hugh Gaitskell]], had failed, after which most Labour leaders regarded it as a distraction. Tony Blair was, however, determined to signal his mastery of the party and his complete rejection of those policies, such as nationalisation, which were seen to damage Labour.
[[Image:Labour manifesto 97.jpg||thumb|The cover of Labour's [[1997 general election]] [[manifesto]]|right]]
The name change coincided with a dramatic revival of the party's fortunes. The "modernisation" of Labour party policy, and the unpopularity of the Conservative government, greatly increased Labour's appeal to "[[middle England]]". The party was concerned not to put off potential voters who had previously supported the Conservatives, and pledged to keep to the spending plans of the previous government, and not to increase the basic rate of income tax. Unexpectedly defeated for a fourth consecutive time in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1992|1992 election]], the party won the [[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 election]] with a majority of 179. Following a period of government and in particular after a second and third election victory in [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001]] and [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]], the name has diminished in significance in British political life. The Labour Party is generally referred to in the media as 'the Government' rather than 'New Labour'. However, the name is still used in party literature.
One of the first acts of the Labour government was to give the [[Bank of England]] operational independence in setting interest rates, a move that had not been foreshadowed in the manifesto or during the election campaign. Labour held to its pledges to keep to the spending plans set by the Conservatives, causing strain with those members of the party who had hoped that the landslide would lead to more radical policies. Left-wing MPs rebelled when the government moved to cut benefits paid to lone parents in December [[1997]]. The government also promoted wider use of [[Public Private Partnerships]] and the [[Private Finance Initiative]], which were opposed particularly by trade unions as a form of [[privatisation]].
The party won a further landslide majority (on a 59% turnout) in [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001]], the first time ever that the Labour Party won two successive full terms of office. The second term saw increases in public spending, especially on the [[National Health Service]], which the government insisted must be linked to the reforms it was proposing. Spending on education was likewise increased, with schools encouraged to adopt "specialisms". The Prime Minister's spokesman [[Alastair Campbell]] was much criticised by education professionals and teachers' trade unions when he stated that this policy meant the end of "the bog-standard [[Comprehensive Schools|comprehensive]]".
Labour's foreign policy kept it close to the [[United States]]. Tony Blair managed to persuade [[Bill Clinton]] to take a more active role in [[Kosovo]] in [[1999]], and UK forces assisted in the international coalition which attacked the [[Taliban]] regime in [[Afghanistan]] in [[2001]]. The UK was one of the allies of the United States that actually participated in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].The decision to engage in the conflict was met with much public disapproval, and many called Tony Blair's credibility into question when doubts emerged as to whether intelligence concerning Iraq's [[Weapons of mass destruction|Weapons of Mass Destruction]] was at all reliable. This loss of support contributed to the substantial reduction of Labour's majority in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 general election]].
The name "New Labour" has been widely satirised. Critics associate the new name with an unprecedented use of '[[spin doctor|spin doctoring]]' in the party's relationship with media. The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] attempted to tarnish the new Labour tag during the 1997 election campaign using the slogan 'New Labour, New Danger'. After [[Gordon Brown]]'s budgets became more and more [[Keynesian]], ''[[Private Eye]]'' began to call the party 'New' Labour. Oddly, it continues to do so even in articles relating an example of privatisation or free-market initiatives by Labour (a frequent theme, especially in Doing the Rounds, the medical column, and In the Back, the investigative section), or other right-wing or [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] policies, in which context the ironic inverted commas would be more appropriate around "Labour" than around "New".
In left-wing circles, the name "New Labour" or [[Neo]] Labour is used [[pejorative]]ly to refer to the perceived domination of the Labour Party by its right-wing. Indeed, some [[socialists]] argue that Labour has become so fond of [[neo-liberal]] policies it is [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcherite]] rather than [[Democratic Socialism|Democratic Socialist]].
==The Labour Party today==
[[Image:LabourCampaignPoster20050115 CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg|333px|right|thumb|Labour, the incumbent party displayed campaign posters, even prior to the 2005 election being called. This one is seen in [[Brighton]] in mid-January, [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]].]]
The party's popularity has declined since 2001. Nevertheless, Labour won the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005| 2005 general election]] with a reduced majority of 66. Tony Blair has said he will serve a full third term, which implies that he will retire in 2010 at the very latest.
It is possible that Blair will retire earlier than that to allow time for his successor to settle in before another election campaign. If the pattern of recent elections is followed, the [[United Kingdom general election, 2009/10|next election]] will be held on [[June 11]], [[2009]] to coincide with elections to the [[European Parliament]]. This would suggest the announcement of Blair's resignation by Summer [[2008]] to allow for the leadership election and a "coronation" at the party conference in the autumn. Following the alleged [[Granita (restaurant)|Granita agreement]], [[Gordon Brown]], the long serving [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], is widely expected to succeed Blair and become Labour Leader and Prime Minister.
See also:
* [[Politics of the United Kingdom]]
==Leaders of the Labour Party since 1906==
From [[1906]] until [[1922]] the leader was formally "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party".
* [[Keir Hardie]] [[1906]]–[[1908]]
* [[Arthur Henderson]] [[1908]]–[[1910]]
* [[George Nicoll Barnes]] [[1910]]–[[1911]]
* [[Ramsay MacDonald]] [[1911]]–[[1914]]
* [[Arthur Henderson]] [[1914]]–[[1917]]
* [[William Adamson]] [[1917]]–[[1921]]
* [[John Robert Clynes]] [[1921]]–[[1922]]
From [[1922]] until [[1970]], the leader was formally "Leader of the Labour Party" and "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party". However these two posts were occasionally split, usually when the party was in government or when the leader of the party did not sit in the [[House of Commons]].
* [[Ramsay MacDonald]] [[1922]]–[[1931]]
* [[Arthur Henderson]] [[1931]]–[[1932]]
Arthur Henderson lost his seat in the Commons a couple of months after becoming leader. For the remainder of his leadership, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party was [[George Lansbury]].
* [[George Lansbury]] [[1932]]–[[1935]]
* [[Clement Attlee]] [[1935]]–[[1955]]
* [[Hugh Gaitskell]] [[1955]]–[[1963]] (died in office)
* [[Harold Wilson]] [[1963]]–[[1976]]
In [[1970]], the posts of "Leader of the Labour Party" and "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party" were split with the latter having no policy role.
* [[James Callaghan]] [[1976]]–[[1980]]
* [[Michael Foot]] [[1980]]–[[1983]]
* [[Neil Kinnock]] [[1983]]–[[1992]]
* [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] [[1992]]–[[1994]] (died in office)
* [[Margaret Beckett]] [[1994]]–[[1994]] (acting)
* [[Tony Blair]] [[1994]]–present
==Deputy leaders of the Labour Party since 1922==
* [[John Robert Clynes]] [[1922]]–[[1931]]
* Jointly [[John Robert Clynes]] [[1931]]–[[1932]] and [[William Graham]] [[1931]]–[[1932]] (died in office)
* [[Clement Attlee]] [[1932]]–[[1935]]
* [[Arthur Greenwood]] [[1935]]–[[1945]]
* [[Herbert Morrison (politician)|Herbert Morrison]] [[1945]]–[[1955]]
* [[James Griffiths]] [[1955]]–[[1959]]
* [[Aneurin Bevan]] [[1959]]–[[1960]]
* [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]] [[1960]]–[[1970]]
* [[Roy Jenkins]] [[1970]]–[[1972]]
* [[Edward Short]] [[1972]]–[[1976]]
* [[Michael Foot]] [[1976]]–[[1980]]
* [[Denis Healey]] [[1980]]–[[1983]]
* [[Roy Hattersley]] [[1983]]–[[1992]]
* [[Margaret Beckett]] [[1992]]–[[1994]]
* [[John Prescott]] [[1994]]–present.
==See also==
* [[HistoryAftermath of BritishWorld War SocialismI]]
* [[Treaty of Sèvres]]
*[[List of organisations associated with the British Labour Party]]
* [[Treaty of Kars]]
*[[List of members of the British Labour Party]]
* [[UKTurks of Western topicsThrace]]
* [[Muslim minority of Greece]]
* [[Greeks of Turkey]]
* [[Greek refugees]]
==Further readingReferences==
{{Reflist}}
* Raymond Plant, Matt Beech and Kevin Hickson (2004), ''The Struggle for Labour's Soul: understanding Labour's political thought since 1945'', Routledge
* [[Roy Hattersley]], ''[[New Statesman]]'', [[May 10]], 2004, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4687_133/ai_n6152909 'We should have made it clear that we too were modernisers']
== External links ==
{{portal|World War I}}
*[http://www.labour.org.uk Official website]
*[http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1918p/lausanne.html Text of the treaty]
*[http://www.lambethlabour.com The Labour Party in the London Borough of Lambeth]
*[http://www.labourwandsworthallaboutturkey.orgcom/antlasma.ukhtm TheInformation Labour Party inabout the London Borough ofTreaty Wandsworth(1)]
*[http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/14/en/1923_1940/foreign_policy/sources/ Information about the Treaty (2)]
*[http://www.labour-lini.org.uk Labour in Northern Ireland Campaign]
*[http://www.hri.org/docs/lausanne/ Text and Information about the Treaty]
*[http://www.labour-party.org.uk/ Unofficial website, with an archive of Labour electoral manifestos from 1900-present and a directory of Labour Party websites, including constituency associations]
*[http://spinwatch.server101.com/modules.php?name=Encyclopedia&op=content&tid=320 SpinWatch profile - Labour Friends of Israel]
*[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/ Guardian Unlimited Politics - Special Report: Labour Party]
* [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us552286/us526499/us526505/us10234373/us703545/us671216/us671218/ LookSmart - ''Labour Party''] directory category
* [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Society_and_Culture/Politics/Parties/Labour/ Open Directory Project - ''Labour Party''] directory category
* [http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Government/Politics/Parties/Labour_Party/ Yahoo! - ''Labour Party''] directory category
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[[kw:Parti Lavur]]
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