New labour 1997 SNP 2015 dominant ideas & electoral performance

1. New labour 1997 SNP 2015dominant ideas & electoral performance

2. SQA Course specification Candidates compare the electoral impact of two different dominant ideas. This can either be from within one political party or between two different political parties. Candidates can choose from the following: the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats or Scottish National Party. These ideas are studied alongside the impact of political campaign management strategies and theoretical analyses of voting behaviour. Relevant case studies are used from Scotland, the United Kingdom, or both Scotland and the United Kingdom.

3. Specimen question paper To what extent do the dominant ideas of political parties have a positive impact on their electoral performance? In your answer you must refer to two sets of dominant ideas either within one political party or between two political parties you have studied. (20)

4. Both parties had two dominant themes in their election campaigns New Labour: • Modernisation • Social Justice SNP: • Stronger for Scotland • Anti-Austerity

5. triangulation Party Both parties wanted to win their respective elections and win the support of the most voters possible. This involved keeping the support of their existing, ideologically committed voters but winning the support of the less committed. In political science terminology, this is called ‘Triangulation’. Dominant Ideas Policies Campaign Committed voters Undecided voters

6. Commonalities New Labour was fighting a UK General Election. The SNP was fighting a UK General Election but only in Scotland. Both parties had, in the past, been in the political wilderness; Labour 1979-1997, SNP had only just formed Scottish Governments). Both parties are social democratic. Both parties sought ‘hegemony’; political dominance in the battle of ideas.

7. New labour: Modernisation New Labour borrowed the ideas of ‘The Third Way’ by Anthony Giddens. It promised to ‘end’ to the traditional ‘Left’ and ‘Right’. It promised not to favour rich or poor. It promised to favour public sector or private sector. Instead, globalisation and new technology (the internet was in its infancy) could transform opportunities and ‘old’ social/political divides and economic behaviours.

8. Modernisation Labour’s modernisation had begun with leader Neil Kinnock in the 1980s. The party had been gradually moving away from traditional socialism but Blair gave it a new momentum. The party’s traditional red flag was replaced by a red rose. The ‘old’ Labour Clause 4 of the constitution, which committed the party to state ownership, was replaced by ‘social justice’, a much broader and some would say vague term. New Labour offered the country a similar makeover.

9. Public private partnerships The embodiment of modernisation. Schools and hospitals were modernised or built from new by new partnerships by the public sector and the private sector. A private company would build a new school and rent it back to the state sector. The state sector was spared the cost (and therefore taxpayers’ money) of building a new school. The private company made a profit over a long time period.

10. Economic modernisation Blair committed New Labour to not raising income tax and keeping inflation low. This appealed to ‘Mondeo Man’ voters who had left Labour when they acquired a nice car, a nice house and enjoyed a good standard of living. Blair famously declared that he was ‘relaxed’ about people being rich (David Beckham, 90s icon, was the example used). It was not government’s job to take money from the rich and give to the poor. Rather it should make everyone rich.

11. Social justice not socialism Socialism, something which didn’t appeal to the growing middle class, was replaced by ‘social justice’ Social justice is less about equality and more about equality of opportunity. Labour hoped to retain its ‘old’ Labour supporters yet bring in new ones who had succeeded in the capitalist economy; the ‘haves’ as well as the ‘have nots’.

12. Education, education, education Classic Triangulation! Classic New Labour! Education, claimed New Labour would be its spending priority. This appealed to a wide section of voters. To the poorer, as an opportunity to move up the social ladder, and to the better off who sought university access.

13. Tough on Crime, tough on the causes of crime Classic Triangulation! Classic New Labour! New Labour sought to take the Law and Order agenda away from the Conservatives. Tough on Crime appealed to Right of Centre voters who wanted punishments. Tough on the Causes appealed to Left of centre voters who wanted something done about poverty and ‘social justice’.

14. Success New Labour won a ‘landslide’ victory in 1997. It won 419 seats, up 146 on its 1992 total. The 10% swing from Conservative to Labour was the biggest since 1945. It retained seats in its traditional ‘heartlands’ of the big cities and The North but now won in places like Est Anglia and Kent, previously ‘no go’ areas for Labour. New Labour held on to power in the 2001 and 2005 General Elections too.

15. Success: the portillo moment New Labour was so successful in 1997 its wins went beyond its ‘target seats‘ well into ‘safe’ Conservative seats. None more so than when it won an 18% swing in Enfield Southgate to claim Cabinet Minister, now tv personality, Michael Portillo’s seat.

16. Other factors? The Conservative Government was split (over Europe!) The Conservative Government’s economic credibility had been destroyed by ‘Black Wednesday’ New Labour won the support of The Sun. Important? New Labour benefitted from the FPTP voting system which won the party many MPs more than a PR system would have done. Tony Blair was a popular leader. But, overall, New Labour captured ‘the zeitgeist’ the mood of the moment. Its dominant ideas reflected what people wanted at the time.

17. SNP 2015

18. stronger for scotland dominant idea Stronger for Scotland: Classic Triangulation! Stronger for Scotland could retain the votes of the 45% who had recently voted for Scottish independence. But a vote for the SNP was not necessarily a vote for Independence. The SNP argued that SNP MPs at Westminster could protect Scotland’s interests better than any other party. This pulled in the votes of some ‘NO’ voters.

19. Anti austerity Classic Triangulation! Scotland has, for some time, been a predominantly social democratic country. Anti austerity policies could reinforce the SNP’s support among former Scottish Labour voters. But, the SNP is also very pro Scottish business. Conservative austerity policies had weakened consumer demand. Anti austerity appealed to a wide range of voters.

20. Party campaign: social media The SNP has more Facebook and Twitter followers than any other party in Scotland. SNP supporters were encouraged to share the party’s dominant ideas with friends and family.

21. success The SNP recorded a historic landslide general election victory in Scotland, winning 56 out of 59 seats. Labour, the dominant party in Scotland since the 1960s, won just one MP in Scotland. The SNP won a 50% share of the vote in Scotland, only the Conservatives in 1955 had managed this before. The SNP won all seven seats in Glasgow with the country's biggest swing - 39.3% from Labour - in Glasgow North East. The SNP also took every seat in Tayside, all six seats in the north east of Scotland, made huge gains in Edinburgh and Fife and wiped out the Lib Dems in the Highlands and Islands.

22. Other factors? Nicola Sturgeon’s popularity as a leader, and her performance in the UK leaders’ debate was also a contributory factor in the SNP’s success The SNP also benefitted from the YES campaign of 2014 with the 45% of YES voters looking to punish SLAB for its alliance with the Scottish Conservatives in Better Together. The wider ‘anti-establishment’ feeling, which we’ve witnessed now with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, made a contribution too. Like New Labour in 1997, the SNP in 2015 captured ‘the zeitgeist’.