Labour Councils and New Left Alternatives

Abstract

Conservative rule in Westminster, with the Thatcher Government intent on rolling back the state, cutting public expenditure and freeing market forces has meant a state of permanent crisis for local government. It is a crisis felt most keenly by progressive Labour councils, intent on maintaining and developing the collective provision of services at the local level. It represents also, however, a more general challenge to local democracy and to the established position of local government in the country’s political system. Out of the crisis, we can start to see a radical restructuring of the relationship between national government and local councils and between political power at the national and local levels.