Blair, New Labour, And the truth about politics.

So Tony Blair stands by the New Labour project and is convinced that any deviation from NL orthodoxy and the slightest hint of a return to old fashioned Labour Party ideals resulted in electoral defeat and will do so in the future. He is probably right. The argument however is not if the Labour Party of the 80's had become unelectable, but why it had. The continuing expansion of the middle class meant that only by appealing to these voters and convincing them that they could vote Labour without fear of any of that socialist redistribution of wealth nonsense could Labour return to power. And here is the perpetual dilemma of political parties and political elites in general. To compromise principle in order to take or retain power, or stand by your beliefs even if it means being condemned to political backwaters and the footnotes of history. That is the truth about politics and it is a truth that will endure for just as long as politics remains a specialised activity rather than part of everyday life.