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The new sub-national politics of the British Labour Party

Laffin, M.; Shaw, E.; Taylor, G.

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Authors

M. Laffin

E. Shaw

G. Taylor



Abstract

The response of national, state-level political parties to the challenges of competing for power at the devolved, regional levels is a neglected research topic. This article seeks to remedy this by analysing how the British Labour Party has responded to these challenges at the sub-national level following UK devolution. British Labour remains formally a unitary party despite devolution. Nonetheless, the national party leadership has allowed the Scottish and Welsh Labour Parties considerable freedom, in practice, to select candidates, conduct regional-level elections and implement some distinctive policies. Meanwhile, the Scottish and Welsh Labour Parties have shifted significantly from being traditional, centralized parties with a single hierarchical organization towards being more pluralist, less hierarchical organizations.

Citation

Laffin, M., Shaw, E., & Taylor, G. (2007). The new sub-national politics of the British Labour Party. Party Politics, 13(1), 88-108. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068806071265

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2007
Deposit Date Oct 15, 2008
Publicly Available Date Nov 28, 2019
Journal Party Politics
Print ISSN 1354-0688
Electronic ISSN 1460-3683
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Issue 1
Pages 88-108
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068806071265
Keywords British Labour Party, Devolution, Party organization, Scotland, Wales.

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Copyright Statement
Laffin, M., Shaw, E. & Taylor, G. (2007). The new sub-national politics of the British Labour Party. Party Politics 13(1): 88-108. Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications. DOI: 10.1177/1354068806071265




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