Party History
The Labour Party was founded in 1900 as a result of the growing Trade Union movement at the beginning of the 20th Century. The party to this day, still has strong ties to Trade Unions and consider them as core supporters of the party. Labour were initially formed to represent the interests of working-class people as suffrage was being increased in the 1900’s the vote was given to a wider range of people and the working classes needed a party who stood for what would benefit them most.
After the First World War the Labour party quickly became the 2nd largest party in the UK, taking over from the Liberals who were recovering from a split. Since then the Labour Party and the Conservatives have remained as the two most popular parties in the UK in terms of membership and votes.
Famous Labour Leaders of the past include: Harold Wilson, Clement Atlee and Michael Foot to more recently Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Labour held power in government for 13 years between 1997 and 2010 with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown leading the party through this successful period. Since Gordon Brown stepped down as leader in 2010, Ed Miliband took over as leader of the Labour Party
Leader – Ed Miliband MP (Leader of the Opposition)
Ed Miliband has been the leader of the Labour Party since 2010, when he stood for the post alongside his older brother, David. He represents the constituency of Doncaster North.
He attended The University of Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He then completed a Masters in Science at the London School of Economics. Before becoming an MP he worked as a researcher for a Channel 4 politics programme. He was appointed to the role of Chancellor Gordon Brown’s special adviser in 1997.
Quick Facts about Ed Miliband MP:
– Ed is a fan of the baseball team, the Boston Red Sox.
– On ‘Desert Island Discs’, Ed chose a wide range of different styles of music, from the South – African National Anthem, to ‘Take On Me’ by A-Ha and ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams.
– His father, Ralph Miliband, was a famous Marxist author, who came to the UK in 1940 to escape the armies of Nazi Germany.
Party Colour – Red
Current Number of Seats
256 seats in Commons. 218 seats in Lords. The Labour Party are currently the main opposition to the coalition government in the House of Commons.
Main manifesto policies as set out by the Labour Party:
“Britain can be better”
Key Policies:
– Ban Zero hour contracts
– Freeze energy bills
– Scrap non-dom tax status
– Reduce tuition fees to £6,000
– Raise the minimum wage to more than £8 by October 2019
– Freeze all rail fares for one year
– Protect tax credits for working families so they rise with inflation
– Introduce a new National Primary Childcare Service
– No increase on the basic or higher rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT
Nick Cooper
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