The Labour Party Under John Smith 1992-94

Question 1

Who was John Smith

Answer 1

-Kinnock’s successor
-seemed ideally suited to lead Lab to victory following cons struggles after Black Wednesday

Question 2

How was smith seen

Answer 2

-seen as serious
-someone to be trusted on economy

Question 3

What did Smith do to modernise lab

Answer 3

-signalled shift in lab by moving to abolish TU block voting by introducing OMOV 1993 where individual lab members vote on parl candidate selection which lessened TU influence

Question 4

What happened to Smith

Answer 4

-suddenly dies of heart attack 1994 which shocked the nation
-many argued smith may have achieved all Blair did had he not died
-but others argued smith innately cautious + would not have acted as boldly + decisively as Blair

Question 5

Why did people argue he was not as bold as Blair

Answer 5

-when introducing OMOV he was wary of extending in to conference motions that decided lab party policy
-this frustrated many modernisers incl. Blair