An Analysis of the Electoral Use of Policy on Law and Order by New Labour

Stephen Drinkwater and Colin Jennings

No 1208, Working Papers from University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics

Abstract: There has been much debate regarding the electoral strategy adopted by New Labour in the lead-up to and then during their time in government. This paper addresses the issue from the perspective of left/right and libertarian/authoritarian considerations by examining data on individual attitudes from the British Social Attitudes survey between 1986 and 2009. The analysis indicates that New Labour's move towards the right on economic and public policy was the main driver towards attracting new centrist voters and could thus be labelled 'broadly' populist. The move towards a tougher stance on law and order was more 'narrowly' populist in that it was used more to minimise the reduction in support from Labour's traditional base on the left than to attract new votes.

Keywords: New Labour; electoral strategy; law and order (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 K00 Z18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2012-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law
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http://www.strath.ac.uk/media/1newwebsite/departme ... 2012/12-08-Final.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: An Analysis of the Electoral Use of Policy on Law and Order by New Labour (2013)
Working Paper: An Analysis of the Electoral Use of Policy on Law and Order by New Labour (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:str:wpaper:1208

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