The Rise of New Labour : Party Policies and Voter Choices

## Abstract The main aim of the book is to explore electoral behaviour in Britain from 1979– 97, which covers the 18years of Conservative government with Margaret Thatcher and John Major as prime ministers of the country and ends with New Labour's landslide victory in 1997. The authors of The Rise of New Labour describe the electoral experiments in the British political spectrum in this period, assess the reasons for their success and failure and discuss their implications in the framework of the underlying theories of electoral behaviour. The analyses in the book are based on the series of British Election Surveys (BESs) that have been undertaken immediately after every election since 1964 and on the 1992–97 British Election Panel Study (BEPS). Contents......Page 8 List of Figures......Page 10 List of Tables......Page 11 List of Abbreviations......Page 14 1. Introduction......Page 16 2. Social Change and the Future of the Left......Page 25 The Decline of Labour's Social Base......Page 28 Room for Class Politics?......Page 33 Increasing Disadvantage and Insecurity?......Page 35 Room for Socialism?......Page 40 Conclusions......Page 43 Appendix 2.1. The Construction of the Measure of Social Group......Page 44 3. The Electoral Success of Thatcherism......Page 46 Inflation and Unemployment......Page 50 Trade Union Legislation......Page 53 Privatization......Page 56 Tax Cuts and Government Spending......Page 59 Taxes and Spending 1992–1997......Page 63 Conclusions......Page 68 Appendix 3.1. Supplementary Tables......Page 69 Appendix 3.2. Logistic Regression of Credit, Blame, and Vote-Switching......Page 70 4. Margaret Thatcher's Nationalism......Page 73 Defence......Page 77 Devolution for Scotland and Wales......Page 79 Europe......Page 83 The Referendum Party......Page 88 Conclusions......Page 90 Appendix 4.2. Changing Ideological Dimensions in the British Electorate......Page 93 5. Old Labour and the Social Democratic Party......Page 97 Labour's Ideological Appeal in 1983......Page 100 The SDP and the Alliance......Page 103 The Social Bases of Centre-Left Voters......Page 107 Conclusions......Page 111 Appendix 5.1. Measuring the Relative Importance of Issues......Page 112 Appendix 5.2. Multivariate Analysis of Social Group, Ideology, and Support for Labour......Page 114 6. Labour's Long Road Back......Page 116 The Economic Issues......Page 121 The Non-Economic Issues......Page 125 The Squeeze on the Liberal Democrats......Page 128 Conclusions......Page 135 Appendix 6.1. Supplementary Tables......Page 136 7. The Changing Social Basis of Party Support......Page 137 The Parties'Appeal to Different Social Groups......Page 139 The Conservatives and Essex Man......Page 143 John Major's Conservatives and the Growth of Middle-Class Insecurity......Page 147 Labour Support among the Two Lefts, 1979–1983......Page 149 Neil Kinnock and the Party Review......Page 151 Tony Blair and New Labour......Page 152 The Centre Parties......Page 154 Conclusions......Page 156 Appendix 7.1. Supplementary Tables......Page 157 Appendix 7.2. Multivariate Analysis of the Social Basis of Vote, 1979–1997......Page 158 8. Were Traditional Labour Voters Disillusioned with New Labour?......Page 162 Conclusions......Page 170 9. Party Policies and Voter Choices......Page 171 Appendix. The British Election Surveys, 1979–1997......Page 182 References......Page 186 E......Page 194 K......Page 195 P......Page 196 U......Page 197 W......Page 198 This major new work from the well-known team of Heath, Jowell and Curtice explores the emergence of New Labour from the ruins of old Labour's four successive defeats at the hands of the Conservatives. Based on the authoritative British Election Surveys the book explores some of the key questions about contemporary British elections and the social and political factors that decide their outcomes. The book begins with the electoral legacy of Margaret Thatcher. How far had Margaret Thatcher converted the electorate to her vision of a free-market, low tax society? Did her electoral success prove the popularity of her policies? Does any scope remain in Britain for left-wing policies? The Rise of New Labour explores the reasons for the failure of previous attempts by Labour under Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock to win the electorate's backing for left-wing policies and dissects the electoral benefits of Tony Blair's abandonment of socialism. The research shows that policies play a much smaller role in electoral change than is usually supposed, and that the parties may be less constrained than they imagine. The book explores the key assumptions underlying New Labour's diagnosis of the problems the party faced during the eighteen years of Conservative rule. It shows that many of these assumptions were at best half-truths and that much of the conventional wisdom - shared by politicians and commentators - about how voters decide is seriously flawed. The book concludes by putting forward a new model of electoral behaviour which is better able to account for the wide array of research findings. This New Work From The Well-known Team Of Heath, Jowell, And Curtice Explores The Emergence Of New Labour From The Ruins Of Old Labour's Four Successive Defeats At The Hands Of The Conservatives. Based On The Authoritative British Election Surveys The Book Explores Some Of The Key Questions About Contemporary British Elections And The Social And Political Factors That Decide Their Outcomes.--jacket. 1. Introduction -- 2. Social Change And The Future Of The Left -- 3. The Electoral Success Of Thatcherism -- 4. Margaret Thatcher's Nationalism -- 5. Old Labour And The Social Democratic Party -- 6. Labour's Long Road Back -- 7. The Changing Social Basis Of Party Support -- 8. Were Traditional Labour Voters Disillusioned With New Labour? -- 9. Party Policies And Voter Choices -- App. The British Election Surveys, 1979-1997 / Katarina Thomson. Anthony F. Heath, Roger M. Jowell, John K. Curtice. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [171]-178) And Index. "This new work from the well-known team of Heath, Jowell, and Curtice explores the emergence of New Labour from the ruins of old Labour's four successive defeats at the hands of the Conservatives. Based on the authoritative British Election Surveys the book explores some of the key questions about contemporary British elections and the social and political factors that decide their outcomes."--BOOK JACKET. This major new work from the well-known team of Heath, Jowell and Curtice explores the rise of New Labour from the ruins of old Labour's four successive defeats at the hands of the Conservatives. Based on the authoritative British Election Surveys, the book examines key questions about contemporary British elections and the social and political factors that decide their outcomes. This text explores the emergence of New Labour from the ruins of old Labour's four successive defeats by the Conservatives. Based on the British Election Surveys, it explores some of the key questions about contemporary British elections Our central concern in this book is explore electoral behavior in Britain in the years from 1979 to 1997.