New Labour, New Life For Britain

New Labour, New Life For Britain is a political manifesto published in 1996 by the British Labour Party. The party had recently restyled itself as New Labour under Tony Blair. The manifesto set out the party's new "Third Way" centrist approach to policy, with subsequent success at the 1997 general election.^[1]

The 1997 election produced the biggest Labour majority in the history of the party. They won 418 seats, with a majority of 179.^[2] The Conservatives under the leadership of John Major suffered their worst defeat in the party's history, losing 178 seats and becoming the official opposition with 165 seats. This election was the start of a Labour government after 18 years in opposition and continued with another landslide victory in 2001 and a victory in 2005. In 2010, they became the official opposition with 258 seats. The new leader of the Labour party, Ed Miliband, completely dropped the New Labour brand in 2010 when elected as party leader.^[3]

Pledge card

During the 1997 campaign, a pledge card with five specific pledges was issued and detailed in the manifesto too. The pledges were:^[1]

• cut class sizes to 30 or under for 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds by using money from the assisted places scheme
• fast-track punishment for persistent young offenders by halving the time from arrest to sentencing
• cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first step by releasing £100 million saved from NHS red tape
• get 250,000 under-25-year-olds off benefit and into work by using money from a windfall levy on the privatised utilities
• no rise in income tax rates, cut VAT on heating to 5 per cent and inflation and interest rates as low as possible

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 new Labour because Britain deserves better - Political Science Resources. Access date: 10 July 2012.
2. ↑ 1997: Labour landslide ends Tory rule - BBC News. Last Updated: 15 April 2005, Access date: 10 July 2012.
3. ↑ Ed Miliband ditches New Labour - The Mirror. Published: 15 February 2012, Access date: 10 July 2012.

Articles relating to policies announced in the manifesto

• Individual Learning Accounts
• Freedom of Information Act 2000
• Human Rights Act 1998
• National Minimum Wage Act 1998
• Regional development agencies
• Devolution
• UK Trident programme (retaining)
• Windfall Tax (United Kingdom)
• Total ban on the use of landmines

New Labour Key figures Tony Blair Peter Mandelson Alastair Campbell Gordon Brown Anthony Giddens Anthony Crosland Philip Gould Lord David Sainsbury Political ethos Blairism Third Way Blatcherism Brownism General elections 1997 2001 2005 2010 (Post-election events) Government Premiership of Tony Blair Blair ministry Chancellorship of Gordon Brown Premiership of Gordon Brown Brown ministry Publications The Future of Socialism A Journey The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour The Blair Years The Purple Book Related topics Labour Co-ordinating Committee Blair–Brown deal New Labour, New Life For Britain New Labour, New Danger Things Can Only Get Better Progress Tony's Cronies Book Category