What's left? : a study of the British Labour Party from 1983 to 1997

What s Left? A study of the British Labour Party from 1983 to 1997. The British Labour Party is at the moment one of the most widely discussed phenomenon s within politics. Especially since Tony Blair became leader of the party in 1994 journalists, scholars and politicians all over Europe have tried to understand and explain the developments in New Labour. This thesis addresses two questions. Firstly it tries to map what the modernisation consisted in, and secondly it tries to explain why the modernisation took place. It is beyond dispute that the party has changed. But this thesis puts the new policies into context, explain trends - and will hopefully add new insight and facts. I have not just focused on the purely political changes, but also organisational changes are illuminated. In addition I try to shed some light on campaigning, and how the four election campaigns in the period studied have changed - and how this can be seen as a part of the modernisation process. The thesis concludes that there have been changes in almost every field of politics. I have particularly focused on the left/right axis and crime on the national level of politics. On the international level the European question and defence are at the main centre of attention. When explaining the reasons for change a contextual and a competitive approach have been applied. The two different frameworks for analysis are not meant to be exclusive, but rather to complement each other, thus providing a broader understanding of the process. Hopefully I have managed to strike a reasonable balance between depth and perspective, so that the analysis will inform without complicate, illuminate without oversimplify and analyse without losing the overall perspective