Thanks to my friend Neil for drawing this one to my attention. Steve Richards has done a series of reflections on the big turning points in our politics over the last 40 years, from the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister to the 2017 election.
The second in the series concerns the formation of the SDP, when 4 former Labour Cabinet ministers left Labour over that party’s adoption of an anti European, pro nuclear disarmament platform along with internal reforms that gave more power to members and trade unions.
Richards makes the important point that if you are going to form a new party, you can’t just be against stuff. You have to have an agenda. He points out that the SDP had a definite left of centre vision that involved redistribution of wealth, high public spending and definitely internationalist.
He observed that the party got masses of media coverage because they had credibility as well as novelty.
David Steel’s role in encouraging the formation of a new party rather than just having Labour people joining the Liberals was also highlighted as an early positive.
Richards says despite all of this, there were “impossible hurdles” for the party to overcome.
First of all, the Labour Party was never going to disappear. They were too well resourced.
Secondly, they didn’t attract those on the left of the Conservatives.
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