Gautam said: > Do you feel that _compared to the electorate_ that > voted (overwhelmingly) for Labour in the last election > that Labour MPs are very much more "Old Labour"? Not > party members, but ordinary everyday voters?
Yes, Labour MPs are more "Old Labour" than the electorate, but less so than the bulk of Labour members. I think it's fair to say that the recent electoral success of Labour is largely due to it cloning Conservative policies. For much of the 1980s and all of the 1990s, there was a general feeling of disgust at the style of the Tory party, but not so much at its substance. There was an almost constant stream of deceit, scandal and sleaze emerging from the top ranks of the Conservative party (and a stench of obvious hypocrisy when that party was preaching a return to "traditional" morality and family values). However, the voters reluctantly chose this over the hardline socialism of Labour. (At times, Labour seemed so far beyond hope that it appeared that the Liberal Democrats might stand a real shot at becoming the official opposition). The reforms of Labour in the wake of the resignation of Kinnock essentially enabled the electorate to choose a Conservative party with a more pristine image. (And image which has been a bit dented but not yet eroded since then). Given that choice, they deserted the Tories in droves. Since then, the Conservative Party seems to be finding it hard to reestablish itself and is stumbling from blunder to blunder under a succession of charisma-free leaders. (At times, the Conservatives have seemed so far beyond hope that it appeared that the Liberal Democrats might stand a real shot at becoming the official opposition.) Indeed, it's now hard to see how they could win a general election unless they plan to wait a decade or so until Labour becomes do mired in its own scandals and complacency and the electorate will go for any politicians that they could more easily believe in. The other options seem to be adopting a strongly anti-Europe position or rebuilding the party as a Libertarian Party. It must be nice to live in a country like the US that can have two seemingly reasonably competent parties at the same time... Rich, who doesn't have any political affiliations as he can't find a party that he thinks truly believes in social and economic freedoms as much as he does. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
