The
Labour Party is a
centre-left[5] political party in the
United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the
Left in
England,
Scotland and
Wales, but not
Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again.
[6] Under "New Labour", the party's position has moved more towards the
centre.
Labour first surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s. Since then, the party has had several spells in government, firstly as minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931 and then as a junior partner in the wartime coalition from 1940-1945. It would later form majority governments under Clement Attlee in 1945-1951 and under Harold Wilson in 1964-1970. Labour was in government again in 1974-1979, first under Wilson and then James Callaghan, though with a precarious and declining majority.
The Labour Party is the current ruling party of the United Kingdom; it won a 179-seat majority in the 1997 general election under the leadership of Tony Blair, its first general election victory since October 1974 and the first general election since 1970 in which it had exceeded 40% of the popular vote. The party's large majority in the House of Commons was slightly reduced to 167 in the 2001 general election and more substantially reduced to 66 in 2005. Labour is also the leading partner in the coalition Welsh government, is the main opposition party in the Scottish Parliament and has 13 members in the European Parliament. The party is also a member of the Socialist International. The party's current leader is Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The party grew out of the trade union movement and socialist political parties of the 19th century seeking workers' representation and describes itself as a "democratic socialist party".[7] Traditionally and historically Labour has stood for the representation of the working class and the most loyal Labour Party voters remain blue-collar workers. However, since the "New Labour" project began, a larger proportion of its support has come from middle-class voters and many perceive this support as key to Labour's electoral success since 1997.[7] Historically the party was broadly in favour of socialism as set out in Clause Four of the original party constitution and advocated socialist policies such as public ownership of key industries, government intervention in the economy, redistribution of wealth, increased rights for workers, the welfare state, publicly-funded healthcare and education.
