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Political Parties in the UK

Labour: Origins, Clause IV and Structure

  • 4 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Recall questions on Labour's origins and the original Clause IV, the 1945 government, social democracy and revisionism, New Labour and the Third Way, the party since 2015, and how Labour is organised and chooses its leader.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Name three achievements of the 1945 Labour government.

Numbers

Which revisionist thinker argued that equality could be achieved through growth and redistribution rather than nationalisation?

Key term

Name four policies of the Labour governments after 1997.

Key term

Which body is formally Labour's supreme policy-making authority?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    From what three sources did the Labour Party emerge?

    Model answer

    The trade union movement, socialist societies such as the Fabians, and the Independent Labour Party founded by Keir Hardie.

  2. 2

    What did the original Clause IV of Labour's constitution commit the party to?

    Model answer

    It committed the party to common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, which in practice meant nationalisation.

  3. 3

    Name three achievements of the 1945 Labour government.

    Model answer

    The creation of the National Health Service, the nationalisation of major industries, and the construction of a comprehensive system of national insurance.

  4. 4

    What is social democracy as Labour has understood it?

    Model answer

    It is the pursuit of greater equality and social justice through redistribution, public services and regulation of the market, rather than through abolishing capitalism.

  5. 5

    Which revisionist thinker argued that equality could be achieved through growth and redistribution rather than nationalisation?

    Model answer

    Anthony Crosland, in The Future of Socialism in 1956.

  6. 6

    What was the significance of rewriting Clause IV in 1995?

    Model answer

    It publicly abandoned the commitment to common ownership, symbolising New Labour's acceptance of the market economy and reassuring middle-class voters.

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The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution
The Structure and Role of Parliament
The Prime Minister and Cabinet
The UK Judiciary

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The Code.
MinisterialCabinetParliamentary

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AA US court can strike down a hostile law using the constitution.
BA UK court cannot.
CChange must come from persuading legislators.

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Veto means formal rejection of legislation.
TrueFalse

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