The Labour Party in opposition and in government, 1970-79; the effects of the government-opposition cycle upon intra-party stability

This thesis considers the continuing ability or inability of a political party within the British framework of party government, to adapt to the challenges posed by the regular move from office to Opposition and back again. We will therefore examine the effects of the government-opposition cycle upon intra-party stability, with special reference to the Labour Party between 1970-1979. Three propositions in particular are considered within the context of Labour's policy-making process with specific regard to party policy on Europe and on industrial relations. These are, that, as an Opposition, a party will attempt to make its policies appear distinctly different from those being pursued by the governing party; that, a party in Opposition will forego or retreat from policy positions previously maintained by it as a government; and that, in Opposition a parliamentary leadership will tend to be more attentive to the policy aspirations of the extra-parliamentary party. It is argued that as Labour has moved from government to Opposition and back again, it has been much to prone to vary the organisation and substance of its policy output. It is argued, further, that changes in both party government and Labour's internal democracy are now needed if the party is to seriously engage in adversarial politics in office as well as out of office. A number of proposals for reform and renewal are considered which could lead to a greater similarity between Labour's organisational and ideological profile in government and Opposition. The present work demonstrates the difficulty of disentangling the manner in which policy is aade from the policy whic h is being made, and concludes that the problems of policy-making in Opposition have for too long trespassed upon the politics of policy-making in government