The Ideology of New Labour

Abstract

The doctrine of the ‘Third Way’ featured heavily in early New Labour discourse. Its principal objective was to move beyond both the democratic socialism espoused by ‘Old’ Labour, which is often labelled the ‘first way’, and the neo-conservatism of the Thatcher and Major governments, which is frequently termed the ‘second way’.¹ More specifically, the Third Way sought to temper free-market capitalism with social justice, while attempting to avoid an ‘excessive domination of the state over social and economic life’ (Giddens, 2000, p. 13). This chapter begins by outlining the assumptions that underpin the Third Way. Drawing on Freeden’s morphological approach, I then consider how the meanings of the main concepts of New Labour’s ideology were decontested in relation to one other, thereby forming an ideological ‘core’. This account of New Labour’s early commitments provides the basis of the ‘context of ideology’ and, in the following chapters, I highlight the changes in its core values that occurred during its time in office. Finally, I address the question of how New Labour was able to achieve hegemonic status. In so doing, I examine and reject Stuart Hall’s contention that the New Labour project was not a hegemonic enterprise.