Labour's Transformation: Searching for the Point of Origin — The European Dynamic
| Date | 01 May 1999 |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9256.00092 |
| Published date | 01 May 1999 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Labour'sLabour's
Transformation:Transformation:
Searching for the PointSearching for the Point
of Origin ± Theof Origin ± The
European DynamicEuropean Dynamic
Russell Holden
Adam Lent's article in Politics Volume 17
presents a cogent set of explanations pointing
to the rebirth of Labour starting well before
1987, however he has not considered the role
of the European issue in explaining the loca-
tion of the origins of Labour's transformation.
Europe as will be shown, created a clear
dynamic for party renewal as it married
together a range of key factors that the Kin-
nock-Hattersley leadership had to constantly
balance in their eorts to rebuild the Party.
Namely, party unity, the retention of union
support, the creation and sustaining of a
new economic policy, and a rapidly chan-
ging international economic environment.
These factors shaped the paradigm that has to
be used if Labour's renewal is to be fully
understood in the time frame identi®ed.
Adam Lent's (1997) recent discussion of the
origins of Labour's transformation extends
over a wide range of important explanations.
However, his references to the European
question are limited, and this is the policy
area that is central to the process of under-
standing the nature of the renewal and mod-
ernisation that the Labour Party underwent in
the mid 1980's. In responding to the agenda
Lent (1997) has set, the real issue needing
investigation is the role of European policy in
determining the process and extent of the
transformation, and more particularly its role
as a dynamic force in generating change.
Europe became more than an issue of party
management (Rosamond 1990) and played
the role of mainspring for promoting the
change urgently required for party renewal in
that it provided both a context and a primer
for change. Whilst located in a climate of
domestic emasculation, Europe forged an
agenda for party renewal which can be traced
by considering the leadership's response on
three interlocking levels ± acknowledging a
changing external environment manifest
through growing economic interdependence
and globalisation, the need to develop a new
economic policy, and observing the progress
of the bulk of the trade union movement in
familiarising and immersion into the European
policy-making process.
Russell Holden, University of Wales Institute, Cardi.
#Political Studies Association 1999. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK
and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 103
Politics (1999) 19(2) pp. 103±108
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