The Evolution Of The Dominant Ideology Of British Labour Party:in The Perspective Of General Elections

The governance of the modern political parties equals to the pursuit of balance between their ideologies and the social evolution. The British Labour Party provided an excellent example to this thesis with the changing process of the general elections. It’s not easy for us to discover the trace left by the20th century from the appearance of Labour. The party was once a political power which fought for the socialism brief and now it reveals the faith from time to time. The Characters of Labour Party today were formed in the last30years. The Party had stridden forward with militant songs in the march of socialism, experienced the confusing contradicts during1950s, being the Master of No.10of Downing Street for13years and got lost in the horrible abyss of radicalism in1983.The origin of Labour Party lies in the development of trade unions in the beginning of20th century, which resulted in the Labourism effects of the party. LRC, the predecessor of Labour Party, which founded for the purpose of voting workers to the parliament, was proved to be a tool of worker more than a leadership of Labour movements. The party had never joined the cabinet before1924thus the influence of Labourism could only be found in the manifestos of general elections. Labour party had to cooperate with the Liberal Party in the general elections so that the social influence would spread. Labour party progressed largely during1910s and the general election of1922was a remarkable signpost of its history. The socialism became the dominant ideology of Labour Party when the party constitution was declared in1918. The Clause IV of the constitution didn’t help the party win the campaign that year, however, it caused the potential power of labour party to release after the World War I while the Liberal Party declined sharply. The two world wars urged the British citizens to abandon their prejudice of socialism and help the labour win the1945general election gloriously and form the first Labour Party cabinet as the majority of parliament.Public ownership and the welfare state were the foundations of British socialism political ideology. This socialism theory fitted the economic condition of post-war Great Britain. Actually the first labour government was outstanding and excellent. However the social structure of GB was more differential with pre-war period. Middle class became larger and stronger so that they couldn’t keep the faith of socialism ideal and focused on the realistic interests. Labour Party was not as attractive as in1945. The continuous three defeats in1950s general elections proved the trend.With the absence of Labour Party in government the controversy between Revisionists and Fundamentalists grew intense and sharp. In1964Harold Wilson was elected to be the Prime Minister and he combined the public ownership to the "Scientific Revolution". By the new slogan he repaired the gap between two sides and constructed a bridge between the "modern Britain" and public ownership. Unfortunately the majestic project was limited by the deterioration of the British economic conditions. The first Wilson cabinet could only solve the troubles of former government and enlarge the majority of Labour Party in parliament before its dissolution. The most important result was that the struggles inside the party were more and more white-hot. The condition of economy turned into crisis when the labour returned the administration. Being lacking in clear recognition of the changing society the Labour Party couldn’t overcome the strikes of trade unions in late1970s. On the contrary the strikes help the Left dominate the whole party. The four losses of general elections in1979,1983,1987and1992suggested that the British people refused to believe in Labour Party. The socialist ideology was in intensive crisis in1980s.Fundamental transformation started in1987, when the policy reflections movement and the organization reforms were carried out. The defender of socialism Michael Foot transited the leadership so that the Left turned into weakness. Kinnock, Smith and Blair adjusted the relationship between trade unions and Labour Party to rescue the party from the dangerous of being kicked out of the Two-Party system. In1995the proposal of new Clause IV was the end point of transformation of Labour. The Labour Party turned from a "class party" into a "national party". It was similar to the Conservative Party in ideology or could we say that they become more and more similar to each other?The victory in1997was more meaningful than that one in1945. The party which gained the polls from northern England also got the same support in southern constituencies, both from traditional workers and white-collar officers. The Third Way not only took a Labour Party government which lasted13years but also should be pursued by the Conservatives.