Epilogue: The Development of Labour’s Economic Strategy since 1983

Abstract

Since 1983 the Labour party has undergone a fundamental transformation.¹ The origins of that transformation are to be found in the immediate aftermath of Labour’s defeat in the 1983 general election and the detailed post-mortem which was launched soon afterwards. Many reasons were blamed for the party’s dismal electoral performance including the Falklands War, the role of the Liberal-SDP Alliance in splitting the anti-Conservative vote, the hostile media, and Foot’s poor leadership.² The research department noted Labour’s had campaign, lack of organisation, inadequate presentation, and the disunity in the party. Geoff Bish said of the shadow cabinet that they ‘clearly felt they had been “bounced” into accepting a document they did not want. They were bounced. They did not like the policies. And it showed.’³ The research department accepted that some of Labour’s policies had not been popular — others, however, had been. More of a problem was that the party’s economic programme was not perceived as credible but as a series of rash and expensive promises.⁴ Its defence policy was even more of a vote loser. The result was that, while they liked aspects of Labour’s strategy, voters felt that the Conservatives had the best overall package.