Labour Party
Labour Party Social democratic political party, traditionally closely linked with the trade-union movement. There are Labour Parties in many countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Israel, and New Zealand. The first British socialist parties, founded in the 1880s, united in the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1893, whose president was Keir Hardie, the first socialist member of Parliament. The ILP created the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, which was renamed the Labour Party in 1906. In 1922, Labour became the second-largest party in Parliament. It formed a brief minority government in 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald and again in 1929–31, but following a coalition with the Liberals in 1931, the party split and was defeated at the polls. Labour joined the wartime coalition of World War II and its leader, Clement Attlee, was deputy prime minister from 1942. After a landslide Labour victory in 1945, the Attlee government introduced a series of social reforms. Labour won the general election of 1964 under Harold Wilson and continued in power until 1970. From 1974 to 1979, it was in power, mostly as a minority administration. Following Wilson's resignation, James Callaghan became prime minister. During the 1980s, led by Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock (1983–92), Labour remained in opposition. After the death of John Smith in 1994, Tony Blair stepped up the party's process of ‘modernization’ under the slogan ‘new Labour’. In 1997, after 18 years in opposition, Labour regained power.
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Labour Party