Through the history of the Labour party many battles between Democratic socialists and social democracy have been fought. Having lost four consecutive general elections because of the general world decline in the influence of socialism and the success of the Thatcherite neo-liberal economic policies in the UK among many others the Labour party were failing to form a government. To gain the support of electorate that the Labour party needed, the party was reformed with more right wing ideologies that marginalised the democratic socialists and dropped clause 4 under the leadership of Tony Blair. The ideological shift centred on stakeholding, communitarianism and Christian socialism. The Labour party declared that because of the free-market policies during the Thatcher and Major “a serious growth of social divisions and alienation” has occurred and to counter it, policies, which are non-socialist, had to be introduced. The party now believes in constitutional reform and modernisation, reform on the welfare state to reduce dependency culture, acceptance to reduce power of trade unions and the acceptance of privatisation.
To me it seems that the “New” Labour party had to change its policies and ideologies if it wanted to stand a change in forming a government. If the nation was to maintain or improve its economic status it would have to accept privatisation, free-market and supply-side economics. Therefore replacing nationalisation with cooperaration or partnership between public and private sectors was the only way forward. Some people say that the “New Labour” is the third way and in affect it is. If anything it is definitely more centrist than left and Eysenck’s model shows a fairer representation of the Labour party in terms of ideology. Therefore I believe the party still maintain their socioeconomic status of representing the working class because they have managed to lower unemployment, increase the minimum wage and secure disability rights. I do not however believe that their ideological shift can still be perceived as left. Although people say that “New” Labour ideas still link with the ethical socialism principles from origins I do not. If “New Labour” was communitarianism then it would not have spent the billions of pounds sending troops to Iraq but on education, policing and the health service. There ideologies are also meant to represent the individualism and the rights of society then the party would have listened to the millions that protested against the war and most certainty would act independent of America unlike Thatcher. Introducing top up fees is certainly not going to encourage working-class people to go to university and identity cards most defiantly are not going to promote social equality. I believe the only reason the party changed its principles is because it was not gaining any support. If it wanted to advance it would have to accept the economic change in Britain and posses pragmatic values that the Conservatives executed if it wanted to prove it was fit for running a government.
The main opposition of the Labour party are the Conservatives. They are a much older party and ideologies derived from Edmund Burke. The term “Conservative” defines the state of mind; the party is sceptical about the rationality of man, claiming humans can be greedy and selfish when presented with the chance. The party is cautious over radical change and only believes in organic change which occurs naturally when we learn from our mistakes. They have faith in paternalism and supported traditional values and institutions. When the conservative ideology immerged it was typically supported by land-owning aristocracy and this is probably why the party is conceived as upper and middle class party today. The hierarchy society at the time gave the conservative ideology great authority, allowing only a few people to make imperative decisions and control society. The party therefore believe in privatisation which would benefit an individual instead of society. Traditionally they are against social and political change such as emancipation of women, the legislation on abortion and easier divorce and pro social discipline and law and order.
After the reform act it was obvious that the conservatives had to represent a majority which is those who were in lower classes and social positions therefore in the 19th century evolved into “one nation” conservatism which emphasized uniting British people. The fight then emerged where traditional conservatives argued that a society that was naturally, hierarchical meaning those who are wealthy are privileged should have responsibilities for those who are not.
Liberal conservatives also disagreed with “one nation” ideology. It believed that the government should be “free” from regulating the economy but unlike the liberals do not believe that individuals can make moral decisions and think a strong state should be implemented to maintain public order. “The new right” ideology is coherent to the liberal conservatives and emerged when Thatcher was in government. The ideology centred on the scheme that there should be a small government which cut taxation and government spending to encourage enterprises, it believed in free-market capitalism to maximise scope of market forces therefore pro American and was against deeper European irrigation.
Analysing the ideologies that were portrayed from Thatcher it is obviously not the traditional or “one nation” ideology in the routes of the party. Nor can you say it is an example of classical Liberalism because she discouraged individualism, therefore coinciding with the hierarchical interpretation of society that the traditionalist executed. Liberals tend to support a quick changing society opposing the “one nation” view which is probably why her principals were associated with Liberalism. Neo-conservatives portrayed totalitarian and opportunism and that is why I believe the party is perceived as right wing with authoritarian principles. She believed in radical change but discriminated social equality only leaving her capitalist account to correspond with the Liberals. There are many elements of Thatcher’s government that suggest neither “one nation” nor “liberal” ideologies such as being anti-European, and in affect is probably why it has is own genre.
Because the Conservatives have strong traditional beliefs its superficial view is anti-youth and society. The party can be discriminated for being racist, inhumane and authoritarian because of its past and also executes a broken image between “one nation” and “the new right” Conservatives giving the electorate the impression they are not a sustainable or pragmatic party. Like other parties I believe that the Conservatives form a collection of different opinions and those different parts represent different ideologies. In a world that is changing rapidly maybe an organic and traditional society can not be maintained and that is why I believe the current leader Michael Howard promotes more issue based topics. The Labour party had to adapt to the capitalist concept and shift more central and that is why I believe the Conservatives need to be more humane and social in there policies. This shows that today’s politics is more central but it also means that parties have come up with similar polices making it hard to differentiate between the two.
Arguably British politics is adversarial with a two party system where you have the government and the opposition. Therefore the two main parties are Labour and the Conservatives. However there has been a third party which is currently becoming more popular and threatening to make the government a coalition. This is the Liberal Democrats; who are actually a hybrid party that officially formed in 1988 when the Liberal party merged with the Social Democratic party, making them the youngest of the three.
The Liberal Democrats have a federal structure therefore granting considerable autonomy to area and local party organisations. Parallel to their federal structure they believe in regional governments and granting more power to local governments. They strongly feel there is a demand for constitutional reform including the electoral system, an elected second chamber and a weaker monarchy. With a willingness to raise tax they believe that health and education in Britain will improve overriding the importance of individual liberty and social justice. The Liberal Democrats have a radical, more open-minded approach to social and moral problems and believe with there progative powers can implement more environmentally friendly policies.
The party are therefore considered centrist because they promote socialist ideologies with a mixed economy and encourage private enterprises. Analysing their ideologies to me they seem more left-wing then right. The belief of a mixed economy, which “New Labour”, has also adapted the Lib Dems only connecting policies with the Conservatives is a small government and even with that they still believe in high taxation to improve the welfare state. Although “New Labour” and the Lib Dems have similar policies I feel Lib Dems consider democracy to be significant with more regional power, an elected second chamber and proportional representation. I feel the party stress social, equal and individual justice and therefore seem more left wing.
According to the socioeconomic model people vote according to their class but the Lib Dems do not have a voting class and sometimes accused for being “unclear” about their ideology therefore must gain support from their policies. In a society that is changing people felt that the Conservative traditional views did not suit their personal beliefs and even upper and middle class people swung towards Labour. This shows the class party link is declining and policy is becoming more significant. I feel that this makes distinguishing between parties even harder because they usually come up with similar ideas and policies. Lets look at the most current policies that the three main parties have come up with in the run up to the next general election :-
Liberal Democrats Policies
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Put patients first - free doctors and nurses from Whitehall meddling.
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Free personal care when you need it – no one forced to sell their home to pay for care.
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No tuition fees, no top-up fees – university affordable for every student.
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More investment in children’s early years – spend the £1 billion Child Trust Fund money when it matters most.
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10,000 more police on the streets – cutting crime and the fear of crime.
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£25 more on the pension every week at 75 – a million pensioners off means-testing.
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Free off-peak local transport – for all pensioners and disabled people.
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Axe the Council Tax – Local Income Tax is both fair and affordable.
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We should not have gone to war in Iraq – it’s time to restore trust in the Government.
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Take the environment seriously - cut pollution, cut congestion, and boost renewable energy.
Labour Policies
Conservatives
All three parties have highlighted the most popular issues within Britain and have come up with similar ways on how they think they can improve. How can the electorate be sure that their policies and ideas will be implemented or improved or understand the difference between parties?
I believe the electorate no longer vote for the extremities in ideology or according to class. I feel people want to see a party that is pragmatic and sovereign. Through this I believe Labour moved more central and even under the leadership of Michael Howard the Conservatives left. Although this goes against their original values such as Labour’s socialist beliefs turning into capitalist ones or Conservatives taking more centrist views it is what gains votes and theoretically is a form of democracy.
Parties also have a combination of beliefs within them which makes it even harder to differentiate: some people may agree, depending on the issue, with different parts of the ideology spectrum, therefore overlap with various parties, who should they vote for? Although different parties have different beliefs they all want to progress and sometimes there is only one way forward and that’s why I believe ideologies may overlap. Could the real question is just how much do parties keep to their promises?
