Abstract
New Labour is the result of a continuous process of modernization begun by Neil Kinnock and continued by John Smith and Tony Blair. So in a sense, New Labour was ‘born out of the ashes of the old’ (Pimlott, 1997, p. 328). The most important aspect of New Labour is that it is not old Labour. As we entered the 1990s questions were being asked about what was the difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. In the 1992 election campaign the Conservative Party succeeded in convincing the electorate that the main difference was taxation policy. Thus Labour were still seen as the high-taxation, high-spending, interventionist party. This was to have an influence on the modernizers in the Labour Party. A key element in transforming Labour into ‘New’ Labour was the abandonment of the old Clause Four of the Labour Party constitution. Although this meant little in terms of policy, it was a symbolic gesture which made it clear that New Labour was a party that believed in capitalism. It was this and Tony Blair’s leadership which attracted business to New Labour. By the end of 1996 donations to the Labour Party amounted to £6 million. What we saw prior to the 1997 General Election was the repositioning of New Labour under the leadership of Tony Blair.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1999 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Norris, P. (1999). New Labour and the Rejection of Stakeholder Capitalism. In: Taylor, G.R. (eds) The Impact of New Labour. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983812_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983812_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-40954-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-333-98381-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)