The creation of the party
The Labour Party was created in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee. It gathered trade unions and Socialist groups. The main Socialist group involved in the creation of the party was the Fabian Society, founded in 1884 by intellectuals, which meant to establish democratic socialism gradually and lawfully rather than by a revolution. The Labour Party was an attempt at giving a voice to the working class in Parliament, supporting the rights and interests of trade unions.
A ruling party from 1924 to 1951
The party gained popularity after World War I with the decline of the Liberal Party, to become the second major party in the UK. The first Labour government was elected in 1924 with the leadership of a Scotsman, Ramsay MacDonald.
After World War II, the Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee, obtained a landslide victory in 1945. Major social reform followed with the creation of the Welfare State and the National Health Service (1948), as well as the massive nationalization of coal, steel and railways.
1997 : New Labour
In 1951 the Labour Party lost the election and spent most of the second half of the 20th century in opposition. It was in 1997, when Tony Blair was made leader, that the party became electable. The concept of New Labour, a political direction defined as the Third Way to replace Socialism, appeared. New Labour changed the constitution of the party in abolishing the Marxist pledge (the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange) and replace it with the concept of the stakeholder society, in which wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many. The internal workings of the party changed as well in finding ways to reduce the power of trade unions. Changes in policies included support of lower taxation to guarantee Britons they would not suffer economically because of taxes. The Labour Party now supports a mixed economy like the Conservartive Party.
