Gordon Brown may be days from departure. Or – like the twitching body at the end of a hangman’s noose – his final spasms may be more drawn out. But there is an altogether more dramatic subplot being played out as the New Labour government reaches its last act. For the death throes of this government herald the end of something remarkable in British politics – the era of radicalism.
The immediate causes of Mr Brown’s demise may be mundane matters: the limitations of his personality and the cost of Jacqui Smith’s bath plug. He is also being subsumed by an economic tide.
But whatever the reasons for his looming downfall, it is set to mark a definite break with the recent past.
For nearly 30 years British politics has been dominated by radical figures with ideologies quite alien to the political parties that spawned them. First Margaret Thatcher affixed an iconoclastic, radical market ideology to a rather unideological, pragmatic and paternalistic Conservative party. Then in the mid-1990s Tony Blair did much the same thing to Labour.
Neither prime minister was ever of their party. Both frequently defined themselves against their party’s sacred cows and preached continuous revolution. Both evinced little sympathy for institutions and traditions. Both delivered a trio of electoral successes but were ultimately toppled by parliamentary parties that retained an instinctive – almost visceral – discomfort with them.
And after the fall, both saw the flame kept alive by a small but fanatical cadre of loyalists determined to keep the faith even at the expense of party unity and electoral prospects.
Mrs Thatcher was replaced by a man with a more consensual style but whom she and her followers mistakenly believed to be a disciple.
John Major’s government was ruined by events, sleaze scandals, exhaustion and its narrow majority. But it was also destroyed by ideological warfare once it emerged that he was no true heir to Thatcherism. Like Gordon Brown, he became a prisoner of his cabinet; unable to sack ministers he disliked and promote those he trusted. The embattled Tory leader tried reshuffles and relaunches. As Mr Brown this week faced an assault from James Purnell, the ultimate Blairite ultra, so Mr Major faced John Redwood, the purest of Thatcherites. Mr Redwood jumped alone and failed to bring down Mr Major; it remains to be seen how badly Mr Purnell has wounded his target.
One can argue about degree. It is probably true that the Thatcherites penetrated deeper into the Conservative party than the Blairites ever managed with Labour. It is nearly 20 years since Mrs Thatcher’s fall and it has taken almost that long for the Tories to play out their internecine conflict. But David Cameron has finally restored the party to something close to its roots. With his attachment to environmentalism, even at the expense of business concerns; with his avowed support for public services; with his departure from some of the harsher social policies of recent years; Mr Cameron has returned the Tories whence they came. Some – especially those watching from the European mainland – might argue that his euroscepticism is still highly ideological. But even this is tempered compared with his predecessors and, in any case, remains hugely popular within Britain.
Many complain that he lacks policies. This is wrong. What he lacks is ideological dogma. He still inclines towards the free market; he still veers towards nationalism. The old Etonian, Mr Cameron believes in things; but he believes in them in moderation. This puts him back in line with Conservative tradition.
Labour, too, is purging its Blairite appendage. Mr Brown was, of course, a New Labour man himself – Mr Blair’s most important partner in the refashioning of the party away from its hard-left policies – but for him the “Labour” was as important as the “New”. His elevation appeared to offer Labour the best of both worlds. Like Mr Major, he appeared more aligned to the traditional party while offering reassurance to the ultras that he would not destroy all they once believed in. While he shrank from the most free-market aspects of Blairism he never abandoned its economic orthodoxy.
One can never divorce events from all this. Had Mr Brown gone to the country early – as his allies urged before the financial crisis struck – he might well have been re-elected and escaped his current travails. But he didn’t and he hasn’t, and now Labour, like the Conservatives, looks set to return closer to its roots. It will start now, as a weaker premier finds it hard to resist his traditionalist MPs, and will continue after Mr Brown’s departure – whenever that comes.
The sudden enthusiasm in some quarters for the unproven Alan Johnson may, in part, reflect the new home secretary and former postman’s personable nature and inspiring backstory. But Mr Johnson is also a trade unionist who, in office, has backed the rights of public sector workers against economic expediency and the views of the true Blairites.
We cannot yet say how much longer Mr Brown has, but Labour is turning back in on itself and back to its roots. The next Labour leader – whenever he or she comes – is not likely to be an über-Blairite. This may be particularly problematic for Labour, as the country has shown a preference for smaller government and free markets, which the current financial crisis is unlikely to shake over the long term.
Mr Cameron has led the Conservatives back to their roots. Labour is heading down a similar path.
Britain’s 30-year experiment with radical politics is at its end. The new order is dead. Welcome to the past.
Robert Shrimsley is managing editor of FT.com and a former chief political correspondent
Gordon Brown’s Fall: The End of British Radicalism – Robert Shrimsley, FT
Brown’s fall will mark the end of British radicalism
Gordon Brown may be days from departure. Or – like the twitching body at the end of a hangman’s noose – his final spasms may be more drawn out. But there is an altogether more dramatic subplot being played out as the New Labour government reaches its last act. For the death throes of this government herald the end of something remarkable in British politics – the era of radicalism.
The immediate causes of Mr Brown’s demise may be mundane matters: the limitations of his personality and the cost of Jacqui Smith’s bath plug. He is also being subsumed by an economic tide.
But whatever the reasons for his looming downfall, it is set to mark a definite break with the recent past.
For nearly 30 years British politics has been dominated by radical figures with ideologies quite alien to the political parties that spawned them. First Margaret Thatcher affixed an iconoclastic, radical market ideology to a rather unideological, pragmatic and paternalistic Conservative party. Then in the mid-1990s Tony Blair did much the same thing to Labour.
Neither prime minister was ever of their party. Both frequently defined themselves against their party’s sacred cows and preached continuous revolution. Both evinced little sympathy for institutions and traditions. Both delivered a trio of electoral successes but were ultimately toppled by parliamentary parties that retained an instinctive – almost visceral – discomfort with them.
And after the fall, both saw the flame kept alive by a small but fanatical cadre of loyalists determined to keep the faith even at the expense of party unity and electoral prospects.
Mrs Thatcher was replaced by a man with a more consensual style but whom she and her followers mistakenly believed to be a disciple.
John Major’s government was ruined by events, sleaze scandals, exhaustion and its narrow majority. But it was also destroyed by ideological warfare once it emerged that he was no true heir to Thatcherism. Like Gordon Brown, he became a prisoner of his cabinet; unable to sack ministers he disliked and promote those he trusted. The embattled Tory leader tried reshuffles and relaunches. As Mr Brown this week faced an assault from James Purnell, the ultimate Blairite ultra, so Mr Major faced John Redwood, the purest of Thatcherites. Mr Redwood jumped alone and failed to bring down Mr Major; it remains to be seen how badly Mr Purnell has wounded his target.
One can argue about degree. It is probably true that the Thatcherites penetrated deeper into the Conservative party than the Blairites ever managed with Labour. It is nearly 20 years since Mrs Thatcher’s fall and it has taken almost that long for the Tories to play out their internecine conflict. But David Cameron has finally restored the party to something close to its roots. With his attachment to environmentalism, even at the expense of business concerns; with his avowed support for public services; with his departure from some of the harsher social policies of recent years; Mr Cameron has returned the Tories whence they came. Some – especially those watching from the European mainland – might argue that his euroscepticism is still highly ideological. But even this is tempered compared with his predecessors and, in any case, remains hugely popular within Britain.
Many complain that he lacks policies. This is wrong. What he lacks is ideological dogma. He still inclines towards the free market; he still veers towards nationalism. The old Etonian, Mr Cameron believes in things; but he believes in them in moderation. This puts him back in line with Conservative tradition.
Labour, too, is purging its Blairite appendage. Mr Brown was, of course, a New Labour man himself – Mr Blair’s most important partner in the refashioning of the party away from its hard-left policies – but for him the “Labour” was as important as the “New”. His elevation appeared to offer Labour the best of both worlds. Like Mr Major, he appeared more aligned to the traditional party while offering reassurance to the ultras that he would not destroy all they once believed in. While he shrank from the most free-market aspects of Blairism he never abandoned its economic orthodoxy.
One can never divorce events from all this. Had Mr Brown gone to the country early – as his allies urged before the financial crisis struck – he might well have been re-elected and escaped his current travails. But he didn’t and he hasn’t, and now Labour, like the Conservatives, looks set to return closer to its roots. It will start now, as a weaker premier finds it hard to resist his traditionalist MPs, and will continue after Mr Brown’s departure – whenever that comes.
The sudden enthusiasm in some quarters for the unproven Alan Johnson may, in part, reflect the new home secretary and former postman’s personable nature and inspiring backstory. But Mr Johnson is also a trade unionist who, in office, has backed the rights of public sector workers against economic expediency and the views of the true Blairites.
We cannot yet say how much longer Mr Brown has, but Labour is turning back in on itself and back to its roots. The next Labour leader – whenever he or she comes – is not likely to be an über-Blairite. This may be particularly problematic for Labour, as the country has shown a preference for smaller government and free markets, which the current financial crisis is unlikely to shake over the long term.
Mr Cameron has led the Conservatives back to their roots. Labour is heading down a similar path.
Britain’s 30-year experiment with radical politics is at its end. The new order is dead. Welcome to the past.
Robert Shrimsley is managing editor of FT.com and a former chief political correspondent
Gordon Brown’s Fall: The End of British Radicalism – Robert Shrimsley, FT