Modernizing Ihe British labour party : organizational and policy changes (1983-1987)‎

Abstract EN

The period from 1983 to 1994 witnessed dramatic changes inside the labour party, in terms of structure, policy and ideology it was labour's electoral defeat in 1983 that created the conditions for changc.

the left wing of the party was blamed for the fiasco in 1983.

as the election was fought and lost on a manifesto famously described by gerald kaufman as“the longest suicide note in history "'leading figures in the labour party argued that changcs in british society forged by mrs.

thatcher’s new policies and the international economy meant that socialists had again to reconsider their policies and ideas.

this paper covers the transformation of labour's structure, strategy and policies under the leadership of n.

kinnock from 1983 to 1987.

it attempts to examine the pressures impeding the process of modernizing the party, its centrist move and the new professionalism of labour’s strategies in campaigning and communication.

the miners’ stiike and the fragmentation of the left arc two major events in the evolution of the labour party and which are dealt with here