The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday,1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair,achieving a 179-seat majority.
New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994,later seen in a draft manifesto which was published in 1996 and titled New Labour,New Life for Britain. It was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics. The branding was extensively used while the party was in government between 1997 and 2010. New Labour was influenced by the political thinking of Anthony Crosland and the leadership of Blair and Brown as well as Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell's media campaigning. The political philosophy of New Labour was influenced by the party's development of Anthony Giddens' Third Way which attempted to provide a synthesis between capitalism and socialism. The party emphasised the importance of social justice,rather than equality,emphasising the need for equality of opportunity and believed in the use of markets to deliver economic efficiency and social justice.
Peter Benjamin Mandelson,Baron Mandelson is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the president of international think tank Policy Network,honorary president of the Great Britain–China Centre,and chairman of strategic advisory firm Global Counsel. Mandelson is often referred to as a Blairite.
Stephen John Byers is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallsend between 1992 and 1997,and North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010. He served in the Cabinet from 1998 to 2002,and was implicated in the MP expenses scandal and retired from politics in 2010.
Alan Milburn is a British Labour Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 to 2010. He served for five years in the Cabinet,first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1998 to 1999,and subsequently as Secretary of State for Health until 2003,when he resigned. He briefly rejoined the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in order to manage Labour's 2005 re-election campaign. He did not seek re-election in the 2010 election.
In British politics,Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair,the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007,and those that support him,known as Blairites. It entered the New Penguin English Dictionary in 2000. Elements of the ideology include investment in public services,expansionary efforts in education to encourage social mobility,and increased actions in terms of mass surveillance alongside a ramping up of law enforcement powers,both of these latter changes advocated in the context of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Blairites have additionally been known for their contrast with the traditional support for socialism by those believing in left-wing politics,with Blair himself and others speaking out against the nationalisation of major industries and against also heavy regulations of business operations.
Nicholas Hugh Brown is a British Independent politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East since 1983,making him the fifth longest serving MP in the House of Commons. He is the longest serving Chief Whip of the Labour Party,holding the position in three separate periods under six Labour leaders –Tony Blair,Gordon Brown,Harriet Harman,Ed Miliband,Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer. He also held several ministerial positions whilst his party was in government from 1997 until 2010. On 26 May 2021,Brown was elected as chair of the Finance Committee. Brown sits in the House of Commons as an independent,having had the whip removed in September 2022,triggered by an investigation into undisclosed matters affecting his Labour membership.
Robert William Ainsworth is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North East from 1992 to 2015,and was the Secretary of State for Defence from 2009 to 2010. Following the general election in 2010 he was the Shadow Defence Secretary,but was replaced by Jim Murphy following the election of Labour leader Ed Miliband.
James Dolan Cunningham is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South from 1992 to 2019.
Dawn Primarolo,Baroness Primarolo,is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Bristol South from 1987 until 2015,when she stood down. She was Minister of State for Children,Young People and Families at the Department for Children,Schools and Families from June 2009 to May 2010 and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons from 2010 to 2015. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for political service. She was nominated for a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours.
Jon Hedley Trickett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire since a 1996 by-election. He was Shadow Lord President of the Council from 2016 to 2020 and served as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2011 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020. He was the Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator under Jeremy Corbyn from 2015 to 2017.
Iain David Wright is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 2004 to 2017,and served also as the Chairman of Business Innovation and Skills Committee. He was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for apprenticeships,and 14 to 19 reform in the Department for Children,Schools and Families until 11 May 2010.
David John Nellist is a British Trotskyist activist who was the MP for the constituency of Coventry South East from 1983 to 1992. Elected as a Labour MP,his support for the Militant tendency led to his eventual expulsion from the party in late 1991. He is the National Chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC),a member of the Socialist Party,and was a city councillor in Coventry from 1998 to 2012.
Greg Beales is Director of Communications,Policy &Campaigns at the homelessness charity Shelter and a former Downing Street advisor to Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair,and formerly Director of Strategy and Planning for the Labour Party
The 1968 Dudley by-election was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Dudley in Worcestershire on 28 March 1968. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Donald Williams.
Simon Gilbert is an English journalist and author. He is a political reporter on radio and TV for the BBC working on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire,Midlands Today and Sunday Politics Midlands.
Joska Bourgeois was a Belgian businesswoman who was the Belgian agent for Jaguar and later Toyota cars. Bourgeois became notable after her death for her relationship with the British businessman and politician Geoffrey Robinson,who was the recipient of a £12.75 million trust fund established by Bourgeois.
Zarah Sultana is a British Labour Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South since the 2019 general election. She is on the left-wing of the Labour Party and currently serves as chair of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.
In the United Kingdom,the minister without portfolio is often a cabinet position,and is sometimes used to enable the chairman of the governing party,contemporarily either the chairman of the Conservative Party or the chair of the Labour Party to attend cabinet meetings. The sinecure positions of lord privy seal,paymaster general,and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which have few responsibilities and have a higher rank in the order of precedence than minister without portfolio can also be used to similar effect. The office is currently held by Greg Hands.
