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Political lessons from across the pond Sunday, Jun 15, 2008 By David J. Sanders Seven years ago, then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Labour Party wiped the floor clean with their Tory - the British Conservative Party - counterparts. The 2001 electoral contests were the first in modern history in which Labour had won large majorities in successive Parliamentary elections. Observers on both sides of the Atlantic speculated as to what had happened to Margaret Thatcher's once powerful and popular political party. During the 1980s, she fundamentally transformed the British government by espousing and adhering to a set of conservative principles, which rejected the state's supremacy over the individual and private enterprise. But, by the time Thatcher left No.10 Downing Street in November 1990, the Tories were preparing a different course, replacing Thatcher's conservatism with a more pragmatic approach. In time, the arrogance of power blinded them. Instead of being against government they wanted to become better managers of public resources. But a damaging recession and then-Prime Minister John Major's passions for the European exchange rate wreaked havoc on the British economy. Making matters worse, Conservatives suffered through damaging scandals linked to sex and corruption. As a result of their failings, all respect as competent stewards of the public trust quickly vanished. But, while the Tories continued on a downward spiral, the Labour Party, which had once marginalized itself for defending the old system of government-run everything, began to get its house in order. In 1994, after realizing the magnitude with which Thatcher had changed Britain, Blair led his party to break the shackles of the past by striking from its platform the declaration calling for "common ownership of the means of production and exchange." By 1997, Labour's old identity was gone as Britons embraced "New Labour." That year, Blair and his party defeated the Conservatives by promising change and reform. William Hague, the young, spunky Tory leader who'd been elected after the 1997 losses, tried to keep up with Blair, who for four years held his party near the political center. Tories offered few conservative policies; in fact, they went in the opposite direction. When Labour proposed more government spending for the National Health Service, the Tories offered the same. When Blair proposed throwing more money at Britain's educational system, Hague proposed the same. By 2001, there were few differences between the two parties on domestic policy. Conservatives tried to fight the election on Labor's terms; the British public saw little reason to give the Tories the government if they were going to match Labor's policies, especially at a time when the British economy was enjoying major expansion. Following their 2001 shellacking, as was the case in 1997, many rightly thinking Conservatives questioned whether or not the party had learned its lesson. Would they respond by arguing for lower taxes, free enterprise and against the supremacy of the state, or would they continue to be Labour-lite? Things got worse for the Tories. After becoming labeled incompetent and ineffective, Hague was replaced by Iain Duncan Smith in 2001, who after suffering through embarrassing episodes as leader, lost a vote of no confidence and was replaced by Michael Howard in 2003, who after holding his party's reins when Blair defeated the Tories in the 2005 elections, was replaced by David Cameron, who currently serves as the leader of the opposition. But now, after 11 years of wandering in the political wilderness, the Tories have made a bit of comeback, thanks in large part to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's low approval ratings. That said, Democrats would be wise to learn from Labour's successes. Conversely, Republicans should guard against making the kind of mistakes made by Britain's Conservatives. ------- David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is a host of the Arkansas Education Television Network's "Unconventional Wisdom." His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
