Abstract
During the early years of Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader, promises of wide sweeping party reform, in particular members-led democratisation, were central to fortifying his support within the extra-parliamentary party. However, by the time Corbyn’s leadership came to a close, very few reforms had been achieved. This article argues that whilst the Corbyn leadership was initially drawn towards a more grassroots vision of rank-and-file democracy, this came into tension with the demands facing the leadership in the context of intense intra-party factionalism. In a Brexit-dominated political landscape, both the normative and actual constraints facing internal party democracy meant that major party reforms were increasingly sidelined. Going forward, this has renewed important questions surrounding if, and how, a more direct vision of democracy is possible within a deeply institutionalised centre-left party.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akehurst, L. 2018. The democracy review: Aka ‘confrontation and fixing for control of the party’. LabourList. https://labourlist.org/2018/07/luke-akehurst-the-democracy-review-aka-confrontation-and-fixing-for-control-of-the-party/. Accessed 01 May 2020.
Avril, E. 2018. The “movementisation” of the Labour Party and the Future of Labour Organising. In Labour United and divided and the 1830s to the present, ed. E. Avril and Y. Beliard. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Bale, T., P. Webb, and M. Poletti. 2018. Grassroots Britain’s party members: Who they are, what they think, and what they do. London: Mile End Institute Queen Mary University of London.
Bassett, L. 2019. Corbynism: Social democracy in a new left garb. The Political Quarterly 90: 1–8.
Bassett, L. 2020. Constitutionally, Corbyn will leave the Labour Party in a similar state to how he found it. LSE British Politics and Policy Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/corbyn-reforms/. Accessed 01 April 2020.
BBC. 2016a. Labour leadership: Corbyn says his 'social movement' will win elections. BBC. Accessed 23 July 2016.
BBC. 2016b. Jeremy Corbyn’s full Interview with Laura Kuenssberg. BBC. Accessed 24 September.
BBC. 2018a. Labour conference: Labour Members vote to keep referendum option open. BBC. Accessed 25 September.
Carty, K. 2013. Are political parties meant to be internally democratic? In The challenges of intra-party democracy, ed. R. Cross and R. Katz. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chessum, M. 2018. To be a true revolutionary, Jeremy Corbyn must subordinate himself to Labour members. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2018/07/be-true-revolutionary-jeremy-corbyn-must-subordinate-himself-labour. Accessed 11 April 2019.
Corbyn, J. 2015. Jeremy Corbyn: Labour membership will determine policy, not me. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/27/jeremy-corbyn-labour-membership-policy-leadership. Accessed 07 August 2018.
Cross, W., and R. Katz, eds. 2013. The challenges of intra-party democracy. Oxford: OUP.
Dommett, K., and L. Temple. 2018. Digital campaigning: The rise of Facebook and satellite campaigns. Parliamentary Affairs 71: 189–202.
Dorey, P. 2017. Jeremy Corbyn confounds his critics: Explaining the Labour party’s remarkable resurgence in the 2017 election. British Politics 12 (3): 308–304.
Duverger, M. 1964. Political parties their organization and activity in the modern state. Their activity and organisation in the modern state, 3rd ed. London: Methuen.
Elgot, J. 2018a. Pro-Corbyn group to launch drive for public vote on Brexit deal. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jun/25/pro-corbyn-group-to-launch-drive-peoples-vote-on-final-brexit-deal-labour. Accessed 16 August 2018.
Elgot, J. 2018b. Three quarters of Labour delegates back reselection, say Momentum. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/17/three-quarters-of-labour-delegates-back-reselection-says-momentum-conference. Accessed 23 September 2020.
Elgot, J., and R. Syal. 2018. Labour members in open revolt at Union-Backed Party rule changes. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/23/labour-members-in-open-revolt-at-union-backed-party-reforms. Accessed 23 September 2018.
Elmi, H. 2018. Labour’s grassroots have three days to be heard – or forgotten. LabourList https://labourlist.org/2018/09/huda-elmi-labours-grassroots-have-three-days-to-be-heard-or-forgotten/. Accessed 01 May 2020.
Gauja, A. 2015. the individualisation of party politics: The impact of changing internal decision-making processes on policy development and citizen engagement. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 17 (1): 89–105.
Gerbaudo, P. 2017. The mask and the flag: Populism, citizenism and global protest. London: Hurst and Co.
Katz, R. 1997. Democracy and elections. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kogan, D. 2019. Protest and power: The battle for the labour party. London: Bloomsbury.
Labour Party. 2018. Democracy review. https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Democracy-Review_pdf. Accessed 01 May 2019.
Lavery, I. 2018. The democracy review. https://labour.org.uk/about/how-we-work/democracy-review. Accessed 02 April 2019.
Labour Party. 2019. Rule Book 2019. https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Rule-Book-2019.pdf. Accessed 08 December 2019.
Mair, P. 2013. Ruling the void: The hollowing out of Western democracy. London: Verso.
Mason, R., H. Stewart, K. Proctor, and M. Taylor. 2019. Labour persuaded to soften pledge of net zero emissions by 2030. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/18/labour-persuaded-to-soften-pledge-of-net-zero-emissions-by-2030. Accessed 25 April 2020.
Marsh, D., and M. Hall. 2007. The British political tradition: Explaining the fate of new labour’s constitutional reform agenda. British Politics 2: 215–238.
McCluskey, L. 2020. Why Trade Unions matter. Novara Media. https://novaramedia.com/2020/02/13/why-trade-unions-matter/. Accessed 01 March 2020.
McKenzie, R. 2010. Power in the labour party: The issue of ‘intra-party democracy.’ In The politics of the labour party, ed. D. Kavanagh. Abingdon: Routledge.
Michels, R. 1962. Political parties: A sociological study of the oligarchical tendencies of modern democracy. New York: Collier Books.
Miliband, R. 1958. Party democracy and parliamentary government. Political Studies 6 (2): 170–174.
Miliband, R. 1972. Parliamentary socialism. A study in the politics of labour. London: Merlin Press.
Minkin, L. 1991. The contentious alliance: Trade unions and the labour party. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Minkin, L. 2014. The Blair Supremacy: A study in the politics of labour’s party management. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Nuuns, A. 2018. The candidate: Jeremy Corbyn’s improbable path to power. London: OR Books.
Panitch, L., and C. Leys. 2020. Searching for socialism: The project of the labour New Left from Benn to Corbyn. London: Verso.
Pettitt, R. 2018. The ‘how’ of election manifestos in the British Labour Party: A source of ongoing controversy. Party Politics 24 (3): 289–295.
Pogrund, G., and P. Maguire. 2020. Left out. London: Vintage.
Press Association. 2018. Labour Agrees MP selection rule changes despite Party Splits. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/24/labour-agrees-mp-selection-rule-changes-despite-party-splits. Accessed 01 March 2020.
Quinn, T. 2018. From the Wembley conference to the ‘Mcdonnell Amendment’: Labour’s leadership nomination rules. The Political Quarterly 89 (3): 474–481.
Scarrow, S. 2005. Political parties and democracy in theoretical and practical perspectives: Implementing intra-party democracy. Washington, DC: National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.
Seyd, P. 1987. The rise and fall of the labour left. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Seyd, P. 2020. Corbyn’s Labour Party: Managing the membership surge. British Politics 15: 1–24.
Syal, R., and H. Stewart. 2019. Labour axes controversial trigger ballots after backing election. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/29/labour-axes-controversial-trigger-ballots-after-backing-election. Accessed 01 May 2020.
Uberoi, E., C. Baker, and R. Cracknell. 2020. General Election 2019: Results and analysis. House of Commons Library CBP 8749. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8749/. Accessed 10 September 2020.
Watts, J. 2017. The lost world of the labour party? Continuity, infiltration, and disunity. British Politics 13: 505–523.
Watts, J., and T. Bale. 2019. Populism as an intra-party phenomenon: The British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 21 (1): 99–115.
Whiteley, P., M. Poletti, T. Webb, and T. Bale. 2019. Oh Jeremy Corbyn! Why did Labour Party membership soar after the 2015 general election? The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 21 (1): 80–98.
Wolkenstein, F. 2016. A deliberative model of intra-party democracy. Journal of Political Philosophy 24 (3): 297–320.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ward, B. Managing democracy in Corbyn’s Labour Party: faction-fighting or movement-building?. Br Polit 17, 353–365 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-021-00158-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-021-00158-8