Representation and Power in Britain's One-Party States: The Case of Barnsley
| Author | Royce Logan Turner |
| Published date | 01 September 1988 |
| DOI | 10.1177/014473948800800203 |
| Date | 01 September 1988 |
Teaching Public Administration:
Autumn
1988 vol.
VIII
no.2 pp24-34
REPRESENTATION
AND
POWER
IN
BRITAIN'S
ONE-PARTY
STATES:
THE
CASE
OF
BARNSLEY
Royce
Logan
Turner
Institute
of
Public
Administration
and
Management
University
of
Liverpool
The
system
of
democracy
that
operates
in
Britain
has
allowed
for
the
development
of
'one-party
states'
at
the
1
eve
1
of
local
government.
These
one-party
states
are
areas
where
one
dominant
political
party
has
governed,
without
interruptions,
for
years,
even
decades.
There
are
areas
where
the
chance
of
any
other
pol
itical
force
successfully
challenging
the
hegemony
of
the
dominant
party
is
remote.
In
Britain's
one-party
states,
the
dominant
party
is,
to
all
intents
and
purposes,
invincible.
One
such
one-party
state
par
excel
lance
is
Barnsley,
in
South
Yorkshire.
It
is
a
Labour
stronghold.
Its
council
has
been
under
continuous
Labour
control
since
1933.
In
1988,
of
the
66
councillors,
62
are
Labour.
Effectively,
there
is
no
opposition
on
the
council.
Additionally,
Barnsley's
three
parliamentary
seats
-
Barnsley
Central,
Barnsley
East,
Barnsley
West
and
Penistone
are
all
rock-sol
id
Labour.
Barnsley
East,
with
its
23,511
majority,
is
the
fourth
safest
Labour
seat
in
England.
Barnsley,
of
course,
is
not
alone;
there
are
other
one-party
states,
Labour
as
well
as
Tory.
Gateshead
and
Rotherham,
for
example,
are
two
other
of
Labour's
one-party
states.
Rushcliffe
in
Nottinghamshire,
and
the
area
around
Bognor
Regis
in
West
Sussex
represented
by
Arun
counc
i
1,
represent
two
of
the
Conservat
i
ve'
s
one-
party
states.
The
purpose
of
this
article
is
to
examine
issues
of
political
representation
and
political
power
in
these
one-
party
states.
Is
democracy
operating
effectively?
The
case
made
here
is
that
representation
of
the
people
in
one-party
states
is
distorted,
and
political
power
at
least
in
this
case
is
in
the
hands
of
an
oligarchic
faction
operating
behind
an
institutionalised
facade
of
democracy.
Most
peop
1 e
in
Barns
1
ey
cannot
remember
when
the
town
was
not
controlled
by
Labour.
And
the
reasons
for
Labour's
success
in
Barnsley
are
not
difficult
to
find:
it
is,
or
at
least
has
been,
an
industrial
town,
with
a
very
long
traditional
association
with
coal
in
particular,
but
also
providing
workers
for
the
glass,
textile
and
steel
industries;
it
is
a
northern
town
with
a
traditional
north
of
England
attraction
to
Labour;
it
is,
self-evidently,
the
24
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