Blair Governments Flashcards
(42 cards)
What was Blair’s background?
His father was a Conservative supporter and Blair had not joined Labour util after he had graduated from Oxford.
How did Blair’s background affect his ideology?
It made it easier for him to move away from traditional Labour Party policies and beliefs since he joined so late.
What did he and fellow Labour modernisers argue?
Significant change was necessary if the Labour Party was to remain relevant in the modern world.
Who were the big 3 modernisers in the Labour Party in the late 1990s?
Blair, Brown and Mandelson.
What could Labour no longer rely on electorally?
The working-class vote solely election them into government.
What did Blair portray himself as?
An ordinary person - he wore casual clothes, played in a rock band, and watched and supported Newcastle United.
How did he show he was in touch with the electorate?
When Diana died in 1997 he called her ‘the peoples princess’ in a national speech. This tapped into what many people were thinking, contrasting starkly with the royal family who faced unprecedented criticism for their lack of empathy.
Following his ‘peoples princess’ speech, what did Blair’s support within the Party soar to?
93%
What was the Third Way?
A middle way between Old Labour’s socialist ideals and the Thatcherite policies of the 1980s.
How did Blair follow the Third Way in his first years in office?
Much of the TU reform was accepted, he would not renationalise private industry, since he argued it didn’t matter who provided public services as long as they were provided.
What did critics argue about Blair’s Third Way?
He did not really stand for anything, he had jettisoned traditional Labour policies and accepted Thatcherite ideas simply to win power.
What had strengthened calls of devolution in Scotland?
The unpopularity of Cons, and by 1997 there were no Cons MPs in Scotland, so voters resented that they were ruled by a party none had voted for.
What did the Scottish voting populous like about the Labour manifesto?
They promised referendums on devolution.
In the 1997 Devolution referendums, what did the Scottish vote for?
Devolving power to a Scottish parliament and this parliament having tax-raising powers. This led to a Scottish Assembly being established.
Where else was power devolved following the 1997 devolution?
A Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, although it had limited powers.
NI had a devolved assembly also following the GFA.
What was a political reform in 1999?
The introduction of an elected mayor for London.
In what way did devolution not have the intended effects?
The SNP and Plaid Cymru in Scotland and Wales respectively continued to gain support, which was unexpected.
Who did Blair block from the Mayor of London office in 2000 and why?
Ken Livingstone as he represented all that was wrong with the ‘loony left’ and would harm the modernised image that Labour had created.
What was Livingstone’s response to being blocked?
He left the Party, ran independently and won, so Blair was forced to accept him back into the Party.
What was the House of Lords reform?
It ended with a messy compromise in which hereditary peers were not abolished but cut to 92 - seen as unsatisfactory by everyone.
Which Roy Jenkins-led commission had no effect in 1999?
He was commissioned to investigate whether or not the first-past-the-post system should be changed. He concluded that it should but no changes were made.
What was the Freedom of Information Act?
In 2000 it was passed, giving people the right to request information from public bodies. By 2006 over 100,000 requests were being made a year.
What was the impact of the FOI Act 2000?
Blair had not fully realised its implications as he had only just come into office but its existence would prevent politicians from making difficult decisions because they feared their actions would become public knowledge.
What was the Human Rights Act 1998?
The European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into British law, so British judges could use it in their rulings.
