Blair's revolting backbenchers
Updated on 09 May 2007
Philip Cowley (pictured below) on the most rebellious parliament in 150 years. How Labour MPs went from bovine to bellicose.
Think back 10 years to 7 May 1997. Once the massed ranks of the newly-elected Parliamentary Labour Party had crowded into Church House for their first meeting (no room in the Palace of Westminster could hold them), Labour's first prime minister for 18 years addressed them on the need for party discipline.
Look at the Tories, he said, and see what happened to them.
"They were all swept away, rebels and loyalists alike," Blair said. "Of course, speak your minds. But realise why you are here: you are here because of the Labour Party under which you fought."
Unity was supposed to be one of the defining characteristics of New Labour - it was supposed to be what distinguished it from Old Labour and set it apart from John Major's Conservatives.
And for a short while, it appeared the prime minister had got his wish, as Labour MPs acquired a widespread reputation for levels of bovine loyalty that would have stunned previous leaders.
It was, back then, common to hear Labour MPs dismissed as sheep, or poodles, or robots, or clones, or - most bizarrely of all - Daleks.
The most rebellious Parliament
Yet any initial self-discipline soon wore off, and the PLP reverted to type. As a result, the decade since Blair's Church House speech has seen the PLP break a series of historical records, all of which the whips would have preferred them to have left alone.
The 2001 Parliament can lay claim to being the most rebellious Parliament in the post-war era - seeing a rebellion by Labour MPs in 21 per cent of divisions.
Many of the rebellions were themselves record-breaking, including the largest Labour rebellion ever in government over education policy (top-up fees), heath policy (foundation hospitals), and defence policy (Trident). The revolts included the joint-largest rebellion at second reading since 1945 (top-up fees) and the largest rebellion at third reading ever against a Labour government (schools reform).
To find a larger backbench revolt than Iraq, you have to go back to the Corn Laws in mid-19th century, when the franchise was enjoyed by just 5 per cent of the population.
The enormous rebellion in March 2003, when 139 Labour MPs voted against the Iraq, war was not only the largest foreign policy revolt seen during any Labour government, but also counts as the largest rebellion against the party whip seen under any party on any issue for 150 years.
To find a larger backbench revolt than Iraq, you have to go back to the revolt over the Corn Laws in the middle of the 19th century, when the franchise was enjoyed by just 5 per cent of the population, and before anything which resembled modern political parties had been formed.
One of the Conservatives' 'New Labour, New Danger' ads prior to 1997 tried to imagine what it would be like under Labour - and included a sentence about a rebellion involving "50 Labour MPs". There were plenty of occasions during the Blair era when a mere 50 would have seemed a grade A victory for the whips.
Worse than Major
The third term also began with record-breaking behaviour. The first session of the 2005 parliament saw Labour MPs rebel in 28 per cent of divisions, easily eclipsing what had until recently been the most rebellious first session of the post-war era - the 1992-3 session (a revolt in 23 per cent of divisions) when John Major had struggled so terribly with the Maastricht legislation.
The government also went down to four Commons defeats in one session - two on anti-terrorism legislation, two on racial and religious hatred.
Three key Blair policies only passed thanks to Tory support, encompassing foreign policy (Iraq), domestic policy (schools reform) and defence (Trident).
Major's much-derided Tories had suffered just four defeats as a result of backbench dissent on whipped votes in the five years between 1992 and 1997. The third Blair term thus managed to achieve in its first year what it took Major five, despite having a majority three times the size.
The government scrapped past other votes with miniscule majorities; won other votes thanks to a series of retreats and deals; and won yet others only thanks to the support of the Conservatives.
Three key policies of the Blair era only passed the Commons thanks to Conservative support, encompassing foreign policy (Iraq), domestic policy (schools reform) and defence (Trident).
The MPs are revolting
Largest backbench revolts under Tony Blair:
Iraq (2003) 139
Trident (2007) 95
Higher Education Bill (2004) 72
Education and Inspections Bill (2006) 69
Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill (1999) 67
Health and Social Care Bill (2003) 65
In part, the rise in backbench dissent was a consequence of the Blair style of government - with his MPs increasingly irritated by his habit of dropping fully-formed policies on them and expecting their automatic wholehearted support.
It was also a consequence of the type of policies pursued. But some of it was merely the inevitable product of being in office continually for 10 years - a phenomenon that would be recognised by many previous leaders.
By April 1990, for example, as the Thatcher-era approached its end, Alan Clark was to note in his diary that "Party discipline was breaking up". Mrs Thatcher's last chief whip, Tim Renton, was said to carry around a list of about 70 Conservative MPs who had stopped supporting the Government on certain policies.
The good news for any incoming prime minister is that recent political history suggests that they will enjoy a short-term honeymoon with their backbenchers. This happened both when Jim Callaghan replaced Harold Wilson in 1976 and when John Major replaced Margaret Thatcher in 1990.
Mrs Thatcher's last chief whip was said to carry around a list of about 70 Conservative MPs who had stopped supporting the Government.
Partly this is the result of MPs wanting to cut the newly established Prime Minister some slack, partly the result of revitalised aspirations, as MPs hope afresh for the preferment that they feel they deserve but which had been denied to them under the previous incumbent.
The problem is that history also records that, once the honeymoon had finished, all hell broke loose.
Both Callaghan and Major found themselves bogged down in vicious parliamentary infighting. Major enjoyed just 18 months of a relatively harmonious relationship with his MPs before getting embroiled in the passage of the Maastricht bill from which he never recovered.
Callaghan's honeymoon lasted just 12 months, before suffering a string of defeats on the devolution legislation that was - ultimately - to lead to his defeat on a vote of confidence in 1979.
Gordon Brown - a man who knows his Labour Party history - must know he is not being left much of an inheritance.
Philip Cowley is Professor of Parliamentary Government at the University of Nottingham, and author of The Rebels: How Blair Mislaid His Majority (Politico's). He also edits revolts.co.uk
