Third Way: Labour and Democrats: How The U.S. And The UK Have Shaped Their Parties

Historically, the United States and the United Kingdom have been incredibly similar. Shared history and linguistics have led to the phrase, “special relationship.” The Democratic Party in the U.S. and the Labour Party in the UK have similar platforms, aiming to create a more just society and similar voters, often young people, and minorities. Despite these clear similarities, the parties do differ because of differing government structures in the United States and United Kingdom, and the Labour Party’s more liberal founding. However, the Labour Party is currently undergoing massive changes to shift more towards the center and appeal to more voters. It is important to understand the limitations that government structures have on political parties of similar makeups that affect their ability to change over the years.

The Founding of Labour

The Labour Party was founded at the start of the 20th century when people became frustrated with the lack of liberal party candidates available. Therefore, working class people founded the Labour Party which had a platform that consisted of the pursuit of full employment with a minimum wage and a maximum workweek, democratic control and public ownership of industry, progressive taxation, and the expansion of educational and social services. The Labour Party represented far left interests during its inception because of its founders.

Labour’s Reform

While the party had moments of government control, it began to wane in popularity during the Thatcher years. Therefore, party leaders began reforming the party to be a bit more moderate to cater to additional voters. The party leader at the time, Neil Kinnock, set about reestablishing Labour as a credible national electoral force. Kinnock’s “modernization” process, which involved a reevaluation of party policies and the elimination of extremists contributed to Labour’s electoral revival. Additionally, the party reembraced the mixed economy, declared its support for European integration, dropped its unpopular unilateral nuclear disarmament policy, rewrote the clause of its constitution that committed it to the public ownership of industry, and gave serious consideration to a new range of constitutional reforms, including devolution, voting reform, and reform of the House of Lords. Thus, by moving more towards the center, the party won favor again with the public, winning the election in the 1994, which led Tony Blair to be prime minister for 13 years.

Labour’s Platform

Currently, the Labour Party has not been in control of government since 2010 and is campaigning hard on new platform ideas and an overhaul of the party once again to entice voters. Their current platform includes ideas like creating jobs, cutting bills and boosting energy security with zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero, putting 13,000 more neighborhood police and PCSOs on our street, and creating a modern childcare system with breakfast clubs in every primary school to give children the best start. Additionally, they aim to reduce energy bills and invest in the jobs and industries of the future via their Green Prosperity Plan and Great British Energy, a new publicly owned clean generation company. These platform ideas are generally further left than the Democratic party in America, yet are moving more towards the center than previous Labour platforms in an attempt to win the general election.

Who Makes up the Party?

The groups of voters supporting the Labour Party is quite similar to America, with young people and minorities largely preferring Labour to the Conservative Party. Further, prior to World War II, Labour’s electoral support was based largely on blue-collar workers and middle-class socialists. Since the 1960s, sections of the middle class who worked in the public sector joined the coalition. Currently, the Labour Party is polling very well in the UK, with 47% of people planning on voting Labour, as opposed to 23% Conservative.

The Founding of the Democratic Party

The Democratic party, in contrast began more conservative and became more liberal. The Democratic party officially emerged in America during the 1828 election for Andrew Jackson. This party was pro state government and supported universal enfranchisement for white men. As the years passed, slavery began to divide the party as Southern Democrats supported it and Northern Democrats believed it was a state issue. The party encountered the biggest shift in 1932 with the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He advocated for sweeping New Deal social programs, such as social security and the statutory minimum wage. This moved the party further to the left. Additionally, the party shifted again in the 1960s with Lyndon B Johnson’s support for Civil Rights. These actions led the Democratic party to be the party it is today.

Current Platform

The platform of the Democratic party today is vastly different than during its founding. Despite tracing its roots to Thomas Jefferson, who advocated a more decentralized federal government, the modern Democratic Party generally supports a strong federal government with powers to regulate business and industry in the public interest; federally financed social services and benefits for the poor, the unemployed, the aged, and other groups; and the protection of Civil Rights.

Who Makes up this Party?

The same groups that support Labour in the UK also support the Democratic party in the U.S. with younger, more ethnically diverse, and less religious people supporting the party that favors equality for all. The Democratic party, however, does not poll as well as Labour does, with 42% of Americans identifying as Democrats and 47% identifying as Republicans. This is partly because party identity is more polarized in America and could also be because the Democratic party is currently in power, and the Labour party is not.

Different Foundings

 It is important to understand why these differences in parties occur in nations so similar to one another. One important aspect is the fact that the UK has a multi-party system, while the U.S. has a two-party system. In the U.S., these two parties become catch-alls for vast groups of people, interests, and issues, to gain votes. In the UK, there is a Liberal and Labour Party. Therefore, those who have more central beliefs have another party to vote for.

The Presidential System

Additionally, in the UK voters select a party, not a candidate. The party then selects the prime minister once they obtain the majority. Therefore, elections become much more about political platforms of parties than specific candidate personalities. The Democratic party is likely polling badly because of Biden and not party platforms. Finally, the Labour Party’s historical background regarding labor rights and union support leads it to be further left than the Democratic party which did not begin historically liberal.

Both parties exemplify a desire to create a more equal society. Therefore, both receive support from the same groups of people. The difference in platforms and levels of support reflect the UK’s multiparty system, prime minister selection process, and the Labour Party’s history of far-left policies. America with its two-party system and conservative founding of the Democratic party does not go as far in policies as the Labour Party does. However, Labour is currently shifting to reflect more of the Democratic Party’s platform in order to gain voters. This shift demonstrates the change in voter sentiment in recent years. It is important to understand how different government structures shape and limit political parties. Due to the multiparty system, Labour cannot go fully in the middle politically since there is a liberal party. Therefore, these structures affect elections and voters more than the parties themselves do. It is important to understand how these structures continue to shape the actions parties take to appeal to voters.