Political parties

After18 years being in opposition the Labour Party won the election in May 1997.

The Labour Party is a socialist party in Great Britain. It was founded in 1922 by the trade unions and the Independent Labour Party. It can be considered as left of the center. It was a federation of trade unions and trade councils, cooperative societies and socialist organizations. The leadership of the party denies the class struggle. It formed minority government under Macdonald (1866-1937) in 1924 and 1929-1931. It formed its first majority government under Attlee
(1883-1967) in 1945-1951, nationalized many basic industries, and instituted the welfare state. Traditionally it stands for equality, for weaker people in society, and for more government involvement in the economy. It is concerned to provide full social services and that’s why tends to increase income tax.

After so many years in opposition the landslide victory by the Labour Party was so overwhelming that it shocked everyone, including Labour and its leader, Tony Blair. At 44 he became Britain’s youngest Prime minister of this century. Mr. Blair managed to reform the Labour Party’s image and structure. Unofficially he renamed it ‘New Labour”.

The Conservative Party developed in the 1830s out of the Tory party, with the maintenance of existing institutions as its policy. The Tory (Pursuer) party supported the Anglican Church and the hereditary right to the throne. They upheld the hereditary of James II to the throne.

In the 1830s it was remodeled by Peel to form the Conservative Party. The Conservatives allied (1886) with the Liberal Unionist led by J. Chamberlain. The party is traditionally supported by the landowners. In home policy they are strongly against the nationalization of the British economy.

The Conservative Party had been in office for 18 years: from 1979 to 1997. Its widely known leader Margaret Thatcher was the Prime minister from 1979 till 1990.

The Thatcher Government returned many of the nationalized industries, such as British Airways, British Gas and British Telecom to the private sector, although other industries such as British Rail, British Coal and the Post Office, are still publicly owned.

The name Liberal was first adopted officially by the Whigs (Doubtful) in 1868. The Whigs opposed in 1679 the succession of James II on account of his catholic sympathies. The party was associated with free trade. They remained strong up to end of the WW I. The leader of the party Lloyd George (1863-1945) was the Prime Minister during WW I. He introduced many social reforms, including old-age pensions and National Insurance. After the war the party faded out. It was replaced by the Labour Party after 1922 as the effective force committed to reform.

The third largest party is the Liberal-Democratic Party, formed in the late 1980s from a union of the Liberals (who developed from the Whigs) and the Social Democrats (a breakaway group of Labour politicians).

Its policies: it is regarded as in the centre or slightly left of centre, it has always been strongly in favour of the EU, it places more emphasis on the environment than other parties, it believes in giving greater powers to local government and in reform of the electoral system. The leader of the party is Paddy Ashdown.