Neoliberalism, New Labour and the Welfare State

This chapter argues that the New Labour governments (1997–2010) were not a political project wholly based on neoliberal assumptions, as the “majority view” in the scholarship asserts. In the area of welfare policy New Labour adopted a modified social democratic approach that can be seen clearly through a variety of data points. The “minority view” posited in this chapter suggests that the governments of Blair and Brown can be seen as a hybrid of neoliberal and social democratic ideas and policies. This is a more accurate explanation of the ideational influence of neoliberalism on the Labour Party in office