Now there is not an inevitability to that simple observation that we are a two-party democracy, or for that matter that any political party is guaranteed to last forever.
The Tories split over the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, the Liberals over Irish Home Rule in 1885 and split gain over Lloyd George’s decision to form a coalition to fight the 1918 General Election, and The Labour Party copied them in 1931 over Ramsey McDonald’s austerity package which was meant to solve the economic mess which followed in the wake of the Wall Street Crash and the onset of the Depression.
The upshot for each of the political parties was a period in the wilderness, with the ever-present threat that they would be marginalised for all time.
Some like the Tories and the Labour Party did come back. In the case of the Labour Party their electoral success in 1945 ushered in major social and economic changes which benefited large section of the populations.
But others didn’t, and while the Liberals and the Lib Dems mounted a sort of come back at local level, this was never translated into a significant Parliamentary present and theirs remained a series of false dawns.
I was born just 49 years after the foundation of the Labour Party and experienced at first hand the departure of the Gang of Four who formed the SDP and counted close colleagues in those who joined that political party.
Briefly in the early 1980s they were seen by many as a serious challenge to the Labour Party, and for those of us who were engaged in the 1983 General Election, the main preoccupation was not whether we would win, but the chances that we might come third behind the Tories and the SDP.
And what I also remember was the level of animosity towards those who had left, which was mirrored in the 1931 Labour split. I grew up against a backdrop of comments about “that traitor McDonald” and remember seeing trade union banners carrying the faces of Keir Hardie and Ramsey McDonald which had McDonald’s eyes cut out.
All of which brings me to an interesting program on Radio 4 yesterday on the history of party splits from 1846 onwards.
When to Break Up the Party*, reflected that “as the consequences of the creation of the Independent Group of breakaway MPs play out, Brexit continues to put extraordinary pressure on the cohesion of Labour and Conservative Parties alike.
Professor Steven Fielding draws on the few examples from our history of party splits to dissect what forces cause them, and why some are bigger and longer-lasting than others.
He assesses the significance or otherwise of what’s happening now against the background not just of the birth of the SDP in 1981, but all the big splits since 1846.
With: Laura Beers, David Davis, Angus Hawkins, Clive Lewis, Martin Pugh, Chuka Umunna
Producer: Phil Tinline” *
Now, I am well aware that some might find the program shallow, and others ask, “but where was the Class analysis?” I found it an interesting survey of how each party split, and the consequences of that split.
As to where we are going, that has yet to be seen.
Pictures; the SDP office, Chorlton, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, posters and manifesto covers, 1929-1983,
*When to Break Up the Party, BBC Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00035ng
 |
| The SDP office, Chorlton, 1983 |
The upshot for each of the political parties was a period in the wilderness, with the ever-present threat that they would be marginalised for all time.
 |
| Election Poster, 1929 |
But others didn’t, and while the Liberals and the Lib Dems mounted a sort of come back at local level, this was never translated into a significant Parliamentary present and theirs remained a series of false dawns.
I was born just 49 years after the foundation of the Labour Party and experienced at first hand the departure of the Gang of Four who formed the SDP and counted close colleagues in those who joined that political party.
Briefly in the early 1980s they were seen by many as a serious challenge to the Labour Party, and for those of us who were engaged in the 1983 General Election, the main preoccupation was not whether we would win, but the chances that we might come third behind the Tories and the SDP.
 |
| Election poster, 1966 |
All of which brings me to an interesting program on Radio 4 yesterday on the history of party splits from 1846 onwards.
When to Break Up the Party*, reflected that “as the consequences of the creation of the Independent Group of breakaway MPs play out, Brexit continues to put extraordinary pressure on the cohesion of Labour and Conservative Parties alike.
Professor Steven Fielding draws on the few examples from our history of party splits to dissect what forces cause them, and why some are bigger and longer-lasting than others.
He assesses the significance or otherwise of what’s happening now against the background not just of the birth of the SDP in 1981, but all the big splits since 1846.
 |
| Labour's 1983 Manifesto |
Producer: Phil Tinline” *
Now, I am well aware that some might find the program shallow, and others ask, “but where was the Class analysis?” I found it an interesting survey of how each party split, and the consequences of that split.
As to where we are going, that has yet to be seen.
Pictures; the SDP office, Chorlton, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, posters and manifesto covers, 1929-1983,
*When to Break Up the Party, BBC Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00035ng
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