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The era of new Labour 1997-2007 - Coggle Diagram
The era of new Labour 1997-2007
The Conservative Party 1997-2007
Leaders and Reason for divisions
Micheal Howard 2003-05
When he took over he did so with a unifying figure having both support from the Mods and the Rockers. However, Howard struggled to compete with Tony Blair in the opinion polls and much of the work that Duncan Smith had done on social justice was abandoned. however how would it bring stability to the party and after an election defeat in 2005 how would made it clear that his preference for his successor to be a moderniser.
David Cameron 2005-present
As a leader Cameron set out about detoxifying and modernising the conservative party. He understood that it was essential to reach out to the narrow core support for the conservatives to make the party more tolerant and inclusive. He wanted to make the party less hostile to all kinds of social groups including ethnic minorities, gay people, single mothers and young people. To do this he highlighted policy areas and positions which were not traditional conservative ones and he promised that a Conservative government would take seriously the issue of climate changed. He was in favour of gay rights and wanted to increase overseas aid. And he praised the way the NHS cared for his disabled son and promised the future Conservative government would protect it. The conservative party started to talk less about the European Union. the labour party funded difficult to attack Cameron than his predecessors full stop and this was party due to Labours decline in popularity. Many of the right wing government remained sceptical about the changing but the party seemed more unified than it had been over a decade.
Iain Duncan Smith 2001-03
Due to the new rules for the leadership introduced by William Hague party members chose Iain Duncan Smith over Clarke in the final round. Iain Duncan worn in 2001 because of negative voting against Clark and Portillo. It appeared as if the Rockers had defeated the Mods. However Duncan Smith had little charisma was no match for Tony Blair. The conservatives remained behind the opinion polls and within a few months of his emergence as leader some conservatives wanted to get rid of him. He tried to introduce compassionate conservatism, visiting deprived estates which convinced him that the conservative party had to do more to tackle poverty. He was a Eurosceptic which reopened divisions over Europe. He voted for the repeal allowing unmarried couples to adopt. he was also criticised as he supported British entry into Iraq and during the war. when he faced a vote of no confidence and with ousted from power Michael Howard was installed as leader.
After the election defeat in 1997 John Major resigned. Due to the scale of election defeat it produced a crisis in the party. The divisions remained, particularly on Europe. But the crisis in the Conservative Party also had become focused on the future of the party. Some cons thought the voters would 'come to their senses and realised the cons were best for the government'. Others thought the party would have to change to become electable again.
William Hague 1997-2001
The conservative party was more Eurosceptic and Thatcherite than it had been previously. Major's immediate resignation announcement meant that a new leader will be elected quickly. Michael Heseltine suffered some health during the election campaign and decided not to stand in the the leadership election. Michael Hauge had a limited amount of political experience. He believed he could represent a fresh start but one largely because he had fewer enemies than his rivals. Thatcher supported him, she said ‘Vote for William Hague to follow the same kind of government I did’. William Hague had largely unified the party on Europe by ruling out joining the euro but the conservatives meant unpopular. Some in the party starts to identify that the conservative party needed to change both his policies and its image. The public was still cautious about further privatisation. The conservative party starts to divide between those who believed that the party needed to change and the people who resisted change. After the conservatives had a crushing defeat in 2001, Hague resigned.
Reason for electoral failures in 2001 and 2005
Failures of leadership
The divisions in the party over Thatcher
Divisions in Europe
Divisions over social liberalism
The failures to learn lessons from electoral defeats
The cons had a resistance to reform
Social Policies (New Deal)
Jobseekers allowance 1998
This was an adjustment of the previous measure introduced in 1996. The labour measures introduced in 1998 were meant to streamline this system by removing the means test attaching to applicants and allowing them greater time and flexibility in their search for work.
Human Rights Act 1998
The Home Secretary said that it was intended to achieve a better balance between rights and responsibilities, between the powers of the state and the freedom of the individual.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
It came into force in 2005 and it requires public authorities to grant 'right of access' to the information they held. Ordinary citizens were entitled to be told what information an authority had and to ask for its disclosure if it did not breach rules of confidentiality.
National Minimum Wage Act 1998
This introduced £4.85 as the minimum hourly wage for adult workers. It was made to attempt to help people cope with the cost of living crisis. When the act came into force it raised the wages over 1.5 million workers.
Working Families Tax Credit and Child tax Credit 1998
These 2 related measures were aimed at reducing child poverty. under the Working Families, families with dependent children whose income from employment was below minimum, were entitled to a tax allowance that in effect raised their wages. The Child Tax was aimed to help single parents.
Winter allowance 1997
The measure which initially granted 100 pounds per person. It was criticised on the grounds that as a universal payment made regardless of the recipients income and people said it was wasteful of public money
Labours 'New Deal' was the term the Labour government applied to its social policies.