New Labour and the Politics of Dominance

Abstract

In attempting to survey New Labour’s period in office one aspect appears to stand out. New Labour’s politics has been and continues to be the politics of dominance. As a government they have set the tone for political discourse and have been the victors in many policy debates. The purpose of this chapter is to argue that New Labour in government have dominated British politics and by doing so have recast the centre-ground. Implicit in this argument is the assertion that the centre-ground is not fixed and that since 1997, New Labour has moved the centre-ground leftwards. Previously the political centre was dominated by tenets of neo-liberalism. In policy terms neo-liberals are suspicious of the state, its power and its ability to distribute efficiently goods and services. Therefore, free market economics is promoted as the mechanism for granting liberty to the individual who is seen as the most important of actors. Notions of social justice and egalitarian claims are dismissed as a mirage and a derivation of personal freedom.¹ The Thatcher and Major governments provided the Conservative Party with 18 consecutive years in office and during this long period of Conservative dominance the Thatcher government in particular was given the opportunities to persuade sections of the British electorate of the virtues of their neo-liberal philosophy. In a similar fashion, New Labour has been presented with opportunities to counter some of the ‘Thatcher–Major settlement’ through the implementation of centre-left principles.

So we’ve prepared the ground by moving to the centre. We’ve laid the foundations with our big idea, social responsibility. And now with our Policy Groups set to publish their reports, we can move forward to the next stage — showing what we will build for Britain.

(Cameron, 2007a: 3)

Under my leadership I am challenging our party to be bolder, to be more ambitious and to be more thoughtful. Unlike the Tories we don’t have to abandon everything we stand for in order to reinvent ourselves. Unlike Labour, we don’t have to shore up a crumbling edifi ce. There is a great opportunity for the Liberal Democrats. Because we are closest to the heartbeat of the British people.

(Campbell, 2006: 6)