Soft left

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For the Australian political tendency, see Ferguson Left.

The soft left, also known as the open left, inside left and historically as the Tribunite left, is a faction within the British Labour Party. The term "soft left" was coined to distinguish the mainstream left, represented by former leader Michael Foot, from the hard left, represented by Tony Benn. People belonging to the soft left may be called soft leftists or Tribunites.

Definition

In the context of the Labour Party, the term "soft left" was coined in 1981, when Neil Kinnock refused to support Tony Benn for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party (see History). It described a faction of the party which disagreed with the conservative tendencies of the Labour right and the radical tendencies of the "Bennite" left, also known as the hard left.[1] In parliament, it was represented by the Tribune Group of MPs and consequently came to be known as the Tribunite left as well.[2][3] The soft left also aligned itself with the Labour Co-ordinating Committee (LCC).[4]

The soft left was initially considered another faction in the Labour left along with the Bennite left, though unlike the Bennite left, it was willing to compromise on some issues to keep the party united and electable.

1994.[1] The process whereby the soft left drifted away from the Labour left and pitched itself against the Bennite left is known as the "realignment of the left".[11]

In modern politics, the soft left refers to a faction in the Labour Party which opposed the New Labour project but has avoided the politics of the modern Labour left, also known as the hard left.[12] Ideologically, it is described as centre-left[13] and is typically thought to occupy the space in the party between the Labour left and the Labour right.[14][15][16] While the Labour left is more supportive of socialism, the soft left is more supportive of social democracy.[17] It believes in compromising more traditional socialist policies to make Labour more electable.[18] It is one of the four main factions in the modern Labour Party.[19][20]

The term "soft left" has been said to carry negative connotations which can suggest a less enthusiastic approach to socialism. It has been argued that the term "inside left" should be used instead.[21] The left-leaning magazines New Statesman and Tribune have used the term as well.[22][23] However, unlike the term "hard left", which can be considered pejorative,[24] "soft left" members have used the term as a self-descriptor to distance themselves from the "hard left".[19] Soft left MP Lisa Nandy advocates a "better name" for the faction; she has said the term "sounds a bit like you’ve sort of collapsed into a jellyfish".[25] Open Labour, the main organisation representing the soft left,[16] has preferred to use the term "open left".[26]

History

The distinction between hard and soft left became evident during the leadership of

unilateral nuclear disarmament) became increasingly polarised.[27][28]

In the

public ownership of the economy, and tended towards Atlanticist or Europeanist rather than anti-imperialist foreign policy.[31][32]

The parliamentary group which came to be associated with the soft left was the Tribune group. The Tribune group was formed around the

Geoff Hodgson and Peter Hain, increasingly rejected the socialism from above of Stalinism and social democracy. It stressed pluralism, including multifarious forms of social ownership and widening Labour's electoral coalition.[16] Figures identified with the soft left in the 1980s included MPs David Blunkett, Robin Cook, Bryan Gould and Clare Short.[29]

While Kinnock initially emerged from the soft left, portraying himself as a "media-friendly Michael Foot", he tacked to the right of the Tribune group, although they continued to vote with him in the National Executive Committee.[33] Soft left candidates increasingly gained positions in the party leadership after 1983, but Kinnock and deputy leader Roy Hattersley kept the party to their right. Kinnock's defeat in the 1992 general election signalled an end to the soft left's rise, as they were increasingly marginalised by the modernisation project associated with Tony Blair.[16] The 1980s soft left began to diverge over time; for example, some figures (such as Blunkett) became loyalists to Blair by the end of the 1990s.[29] However, activist figures such as the National Executive Committee member Ann Black and a range of MPs continued to work as part of the 'broad left'.

Contemporary soft left

In 2015, Neal Lawson, the chair of the think tank Compass, identified the organisation as a successor to the soft left.[29] Compass disaffiliated from Labour in 2011 in order to open up their membership to people belonging to other political parties.[34] The activist group Open Labour was launched in 2015 with the aim of developing a new forum for the soft left political tradition within the party, which it hopes to recast as the "Open Left".[35][36][16] In the 2017 general election, several Open Labour activists were elected to Parliament including Open Labour Treasurer Alex Sobel, Emma Hardy, and Rosie Duffield.

In the aftermath of the party leadership (2015–20) of Jeremy Corbyn, who has been identified as a hard left MP, the term was generally used to mean "the space between Corbynite remnants on the left, and Progress and Labour First on the right".[16] Keir Starmer, the current leader of the Labour Party, and Angela Rayner, the current deputy leader, have both been described as soft left.[16][37][38]

Labour politicians on the soft left

People belonging to the soft left may be called soft leftists[39] or Tribunites.[40] The following Labour politicians are often considered to have been on the soft left of the party for at least some of their careers, but may not identify themselves as such:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Fielding, Steven (22 January 2020). "Keir Starmer is Labour's 'continuity Milliband' contender". The Spectator. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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  4. ^ a b c Young, Ross (2001). "The Labour Party and the Labour Left: Party Transformation and the Decline of Factionalism 1979–97" (PDF). Oxford University Press. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  5. ^ "The British Labor Party: Caught Between Ideology and Reality" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. May 1983. p. 11.
  6. ^ Williams, Ben; Hickson, Kevin (16 June 2022). "Keir Starmer: what Labour leader could learn from Neil Kinnock to capitalise on Boris Johnson's woes". The Conversation. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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  12. ^ Self, Josh (4 January 2023). "A quiet psychodrama: The story of how Keir Starmer transformed Labour in 1000 days". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  13. ^ Payne, Sebastian; Pickard, Jim; Kao, Joanna S; Nevitt, Caroline (3 September 2019). "Jeremy Corbyn's inner circles". Financial Times. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  14. ^ Lapsley, Steve (9 May 2020). "In defence of 'soft left'". Open Labour. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  15. ^ Shaw, Eric (April 2020). "British Labour's Safe Pair of Hands". Inroads – The Canadian Journal of Opinion. No. 47. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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  18. ^ Craddock, Isabella (23 July 2020). "The Commons: The Rise of Keir Starmer". Modern Treatise. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  19. ^ a b Gilbert, Jeremy (March 2016). "Corbynism and Its Futures" (PDF). Near Futures Online: Europe at a Crossroads. 1. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  20. ^ Davies, Luke John (March 2020). "The role of youth and student wings in shaping Social Democratic Parliamentarians in Germany and Great Britain" (PDF). Aston University. pp. 116, 173. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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  22. ^ Reeves, Richard (14 July 2003). "The public intellectual". New Statesman. Vol. 132, no. 4645–4648. p. 23. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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  35. ^ Wintour, Patrick (9 December 2015). "Labour activists launch new group on party's left". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
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  37. ^ Williams, Zoe (21 January 2020). "Keir Starmer's soft-left approach is the unifying force that Labour needs". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  38. ^ a b Moss, Stephen (28 July 2017). "Labour's Angela Rayner: 'Ideology never put food on my table'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
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  45. ^ "New Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds tasked with taking on Rishi Sunak". The Daily Telegraph. 7 April 2020.
  46. ^ Pickard, Jim (11 July 2016). "Angela Eagle carries the hopes of Labour's soft left". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  47. ^ "Keir Starmer keeps his friends close and his enemies closer in astute first reshuffle". New Statesman. 5 April 2020.
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  50. ^ Hill, Dave (1 February 2016). "A Sadiq Khan win in London would expose the failings of Jeremy Corbyn". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  51. ^ Stone, Jon (26 September 2016). "Labour leadership contest abuse 'reminded me of far right', MP Lisa Nandy says". The Independent. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  52. ^ "'Labour is coming back in Scotland': party predicts revival as Corbyn heads north". The Guardian. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

Further reading

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