Economic Strategy and the Labour Party : Politics and policy-making

Economic Strategy and the Labour Party examines the nature and development of the Labour partys economic policy between 1970 and 1983. Drawing on extensive archival research, Mark Wickham-Jones analyses the radical nature of the new proposals adopted by the party in 1973 and charts the opposition of Labours leadership to them. The resulting disunity was the central cause of leftwingers demands to reform Labours constitutional structure and of the partys election defeat in 1983. Mark Wickham-Jones assesses the nature of Labours social democratic objectives and the organisational structure of the party. In the Epilogue he provides a detailed account of the internal reforms under Neil Kinnocks leadership of the party which have helped to secure the foundations of Labours electoral recovery since 1983.