Kinnock’s “modernization” process, which involved a reevaluation of party policies and the elimination of extremists—including the Trotskyist wing, Militant Tendency—contributed to Labour’s electoral revival but was not sufficient to deprive the Conservatives of their governing majorities in the general elections of 1987 and 1992. By 1922 Labour had supplanted the Liberal Party as the official opposition to the ruling Conservative Party. The Beveridge Report, prepared during the war years heralded the welfare changes that would follow in peacetime. In 1951 it lost power to the Conservatives. In 2007 Blair resigned the prime ministership in favour of his longtime chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. In 2018, SNP party membership rose from 118,162 (April) to 125,482 (August), according to information provided by the party headquarters. In opposition to the Conservative Party, it has been the major democratic socialist party in Britain since the early 20th century. This note uses a range of sources to examine party membership and support in the UK, specifically membership levels and the social characteristics of party members. Read more. Profile: The Labour Party The Labour Party was born out of the trade union movement in 1900 with the aim of giving a political voice to the working classes. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Copyright © 2020 House of Commons Library. The SNP had around 125,500 members (December 2018), the Liberal Democrats 115,000 (August 2019), Green Party 48,500 (July 2019), UKIP 29,000 (April 2019) and Plaid Cymru 10,000 (October 2018). And in a move that surprised many, Mr Brown ended a long-running feud with Peter Mandelson - one of the architects of New Labour - and brought him back into the cabinet from his post as EU trade commissioner. Mr Blair made it clear the unions would be treated fairly but without any favours, and Labour would welcome business as a partner. Individual Tory MPs were also tainted by allegations of "sleaze". At the Labour Party conference in September 2010, Ed Miliband, with strong union support, edged out his elder brother, David Miliband, the front-runner, to become party leader. In the ensuing election Labour’s parliamentary representation was reduced from 288 to 52. In government, the party clearly intended to hold the middle ground. Although hampered by a small majority, the Labour Party pursued controversial policies, including support for Britain’s continued membership in the European Community and devolution in Scotland and Wales, which was rejected by referenda in 1979. By far the best news for the party was the triumph of Labour candidate Sadiq Khan in the London mayoral race. Foot was replaced later that year by Neil Kinnock, a politician with leftist credentials who set about reestablishing Labour as a credible national electoral force. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. The University of Huddersfield. Khan became the first Muslim to be mayor of a Western capital. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Subscribe to receive email alerts every time we publish new research about the topics you’re interested in. Corbyn rebuffed these overtures, and on June 23, 2016, when 52 percent of British voters chose to leave the EU, the result triggered a leadership crisis within Labour. It is used for the latest estimates when possible. In the run-up to the general election in May 2015, polling data suggested that Labour and the Conservatives were in a virtual dead heat, but the actual result was a Conservative rout. Postwar economic recovery proved slow, however, and in the 1950 election Labour’s majority was reduced to five. The Labour Party was born at the turn of the 20th century out of the frustration of working-class people at their inability to field parliamentary candidates through the Liberal Party, which at that time was the dominant social-reform party in Britain. By 1974 Labour was back, winning two elections in the same year, but facing new problems. After the surprise resignation of Harold Wilson as party leader, Jim Callaghan became prime minister. In the run-up to the “Brexit” referendum on Britain’s continued membership in the European Union, Conservative leaders courted Labour support with the hope that the two parties could jointly make the case for continued association with the EU. Many parties provide party membership figures for the year ending 31 December in annual accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission. Following the “Winter of Discontent” of 1978–79, when Britain suffered a series of major strikes by trade unions, the party was ousted from office by the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher. As of July 2019, Labour had 485,000 members, compared to the Conservatives, who had 180,000 members. On June 28 a motion of no confidence in Corbyn’s leadership was passed overwhelmingly by Labour MPs, but Corbyn stated that he had no intention to resign. Labour’s narrow five-seat majority in the election of October 1974 diminished through the term, forcing the party to enter a “Lib-Lab” pact with the Liberal Party. Commons Opposition Day debates since 1992. He was succeeded by John Smith, a highly respected figure in Parliament, widely seen as the prime minister in waiting. Corbyn ultimately triumphed in the leadership battle that followed, soundly defeating former shadow secretary for work and pensions Owen Smith in the final vote in late September. After World War I the party made great strides, owing to a number of factors: first, the Liberal Party tore itself apart in a series of factional disputes; second, the 1918 Representation of the People Act extended the electoral franchise to all males aged 21 or older and to women aged 30 or older; and third, in 1918 Labour reconstituted itself as a formally socialist party with a democratic constitution and a national structure.
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