Since the first polls of the official election campaign came out earlier this month, there has been talk of Labour repeating its 1997 landslide.
And now we have Labour’s 2024 manifesto, further similarities are in evidence. Like Tony Blair’s 1997 New Labour manifesto, Keir Starmer’s document makes education and health the central policy priorities. Both manifestos promise to be tough on crime, abolish hereditary peers in the House of Lords and devolve more powers to the regions.
There are also some important differences. Chief among these is that 2024 Labour is promising less spending than 1997 Labour, and yet more state intervention. This divergence shows a significant development in the party’s approach to economic growth. It is a welcome departure from the Conservative and New Labour, market-led, neoliberal consensus on economic growth.
