alternatehistory.com
John Prescott (1996-2006)
John Prescott had humble origins – he was born in Wales, the son of a railway signalman and grandson of a miner, and his family was Labour through and through. He spent most of his childhood in Yorkshire, and after abortive studies at the University of Hull, went off to become a merchant sailor. He soon got involved with the trade union movement, and from there went on to be elected to Hull City Council, where he would spend two decades of his life first as a plain Councillor and then as Council Leader. He earned a reputation as a shrewd manager of council funds, and went into Cabinet at Frank Dobson's request in 1989 – despite not being a Member of Parliament at the time. In 1990, he stood in a by-election in Rotherham and Doncaster, the constituency where he spent most of his childhood, and won by a large margin.
When Dobson returned to Number 10 in 1994, Prescott became Chancellor, and as such responsible for the Labour Government's controversial austerity measures. He became vilified by the party left, but stood his ground, famously proclaiming that “he who is indebted is not free”. Dobson's retirement and the somewhat shambolic leadership contest that ensued eventually saw Prescott unopposed for the top job – Harriet Harman's leadership bid was scuttled when her expenses scandal broke, and attempts by the Labour Left to stand a candidate against Prescott failed to materialise. So it was that despite not being particularly loved by anyone, and actively hated by the left, John Prescott was able to enter Number 10 with the nominal backing of a unified Labour movement.
His premiership was helped along by the gradual turning around of the ecomony – by 1997 the recession was definitely over, and the boom that followed it would last the remainder of Prescott's time in office. Very little state action seemed to be necessary to ensure continued prosperity. Prescott seized the moment to call a General Election in the autumn of 1998, campaigning on his record in government and promising a broad-ranging reform programme, the cornerstone of which was the introduction of a blanket subsidy for child care. This would allow low-income parents to send their children to day nurseries, helping women enter the labour market to a higher extent than they had previously been able to. The election result ended up somewhat surprising, as Labour lost a significant number of seats, but thanks to the explosive growth of the recently-rechristened Left Party, the change was not actually such as to threaten Prescott's position. In a now-famous TV interview, the Prime Minister reacted to the historically-poor Labour result with the taciturn phrase “We're holding power”.
This was very much emblematic of Prescott's style in government – what mattered wasn't necessarily the impact of his political programme, but the continual mandate to implement that programme. He knew how to play the game of politics and play it well, and opposing voices in party as well as country often found themselves dealt with quickly and quietly. He was always a man of decisive action, setting out a course and then following it, criticism or contrary evidence be damned – sometimes this worked well, sometimes less so. His creation of the Private Finance Initiative in 1999 ushered in the biggest wave of home construction since the Million Programme, as former industrial areas were redeveloped into attractive suburban housing. On the other hand, his decision to participate in talks over the European single currency led to raucous debate in Parliament, as significant portions of the Labour Party itself opposed the idea just as they had the original entry, and ultimately the issue had to be dropped.
Meanwhile, there were rumblings on the opposition benches. After their second consecutive defeat in 1998, Michael Portillo resigned the National leadership, and the party chose Iain Duncan Smith to succeed him. IDS, as he was almost universally known, was a controversial figure – a strident right-winger, he believed in a massive reduction of state power, withdrawal from the European Union and stricter immigration policy, all ideas far out of the Overton Window at the time. The Nationals were never going to do very well in the climate of the time (good economy, popular incumbent Labour government that was mostly unmarred by scandal), but IDS' leadership seemed to have made the situation actively worse. The Liberals, meanwhile, were seeing the end of their crisis, with the green faction splitting off to form their own party and the remainder veering increasingly to the right. Brian Paddick, the new Liberal leader, was making vague noises about law and order, an approach that won him and his party publicity, but caused some to doubt whether or not he was actually a credible small-L liberal. This was the backdrop against which the 2001 General Election was called.
The campaign proved eventful, but not for Labour – Prescott toured the country almost like a monarch, making noncommittal speeches asking for continued confidence, and making very few concrete promises for the upcoming term. He made few direct overtures to the electorate because he knew he wouldn't need to – he could simply watch as the opposition tore itself apart and coast back into Number 10 on the competence vote. This strategy proved more successful than he could've dreamed of, as the National Party was marred by both IDS' perceived radicalism and unfitness to govern and a number of scandals concerning local campaigners making racist remarks about South Asians. Election night confirmed the trends of the campaign, as the Nationals slumped to some fifteen percent of the vote while the Liberals surged nearly to the point of overtaking them. A brief abortive attempt to form a minority Liberal government fell apart when the Greens refused to countenance a deal with the party they'd left, and Labour ended up returning to power.
Prescott's campaign style in the 2001 elections would prove a sign of things to come, as the governing party appeared more stale and out of touch than ever. To make things worse for Labour, the opposition parties learned their lessons and for the first time since 1965 presented a united alternative. The Alliance for Britain was launched by the Nationals, Liberals, Centre and Ulster Unionists at the ancestral farm of the Centre leader, where the leaders made appearances on the porch in informal wear, drinking tea and chatting in a perfectly ordinary manner. This contrasted rather sharply with the budget negotiations at Chequers the same week, which featured all the Labour cabinet ministers in evening dress hobnobbing over cocktails and discussing technical aspects of politics. It was clear that Labour's days in office were numbered, but eventually the Nationals would go too far in their attempt to emulate Labour's recipe for success. When they held a May Day parade in 2004, marching with banners captioned “LOWER TAXES” and “MAKE WORK PAY”, they were roundly mocked by both the left and the media.
However, it was to be two years until the election was called – at the last possible moment – and in those two years, Prescott and his government did not go out of their way to portray an image of competence, reform-mindedness or much of anything except petty bickering and party fatigue. Biographies revealed that Prescott had hoped to retire in favour of Foreign Secretary Mo Mowlam – however, Mowlam's death from a brain tumour in 2003 had rendered such an option moot, and he was consigned to waiting around in office, with very few ideas or proposals beyond “stay in power”. This type of leadership style is seldom a vote-winner, and indeed it was to no one's surprise that the 2006 General Election resulted in Labour losing power once more. They were not to regain it for quite some time...
John Prescott had humble origins – he was born in Wales, the son of a railway signalman and grandson of a miner, and his family was Labour through and through. He spent most of his childhood in Yorkshire, and after abortive studies at the University of Hull, went off to become a merchant sailor. He soon got involved with the trade union movement, and from there went on to be elected to Hull City Council, where he would spend two decades of his life first as a plain Councillor and then as Council Leader. He earned a reputation as a shrewd manager of council funds, and went into Cabinet at Frank Dobson's request in 1989 – despite not being a Member of Parliament at the time. In 1990, he stood in a by-election in Rotherham and Doncaster, the constituency where he spent most of his childhood, and won by a large margin.
When Dobson returned to Number 10 in 1994, Prescott became Chancellor, and as such responsible for the Labour Government's controversial austerity measures. He became vilified by the party left, but stood his ground, famously proclaiming that “he who is indebted is not free”. Dobson's retirement and the somewhat shambolic leadership contest that ensued eventually saw Prescott unopposed for the top job – Harriet Harman's leadership bid was scuttled when her expenses scandal broke, and attempts by the Labour Left to stand a candidate against Prescott failed to materialise. So it was that despite not being particularly loved by anyone, and actively hated by the left, John Prescott was able to enter Number 10 with the nominal backing of a unified Labour movement.
His premiership was helped along by the gradual turning around of the ecomony – by 1997 the recession was definitely over, and the boom that followed it would last the remainder of Prescott's time in office. Very little state action seemed to be necessary to ensure continued prosperity. Prescott seized the moment to call a General Election in the autumn of 1998, campaigning on his record in government and promising a broad-ranging reform programme, the cornerstone of which was the introduction of a blanket subsidy for child care. This would allow low-income parents to send their children to day nurseries, helping women enter the labour market to a higher extent than they had previously been able to. The election result ended up somewhat surprising, as Labour lost a significant number of seats, but thanks to the explosive growth of the recently-rechristened Left Party, the change was not actually such as to threaten Prescott's position. In a now-famous TV interview, the Prime Minister reacted to the historically-poor Labour result with the taciturn phrase “We're holding power”.
This was very much emblematic of Prescott's style in government – what mattered wasn't necessarily the impact of his political programme, but the continual mandate to implement that programme. He knew how to play the game of politics and play it well, and opposing voices in party as well as country often found themselves dealt with quickly and quietly. He was always a man of decisive action, setting out a course and then following it, criticism or contrary evidence be damned – sometimes this worked well, sometimes less so. His creation of the Private Finance Initiative in 1999 ushered in the biggest wave of home construction since the Million Programme, as former industrial areas were redeveloped into attractive suburban housing. On the other hand, his decision to participate in talks over the European single currency led to raucous debate in Parliament, as significant portions of the Labour Party itself opposed the idea just as they had the original entry, and ultimately the issue had to be dropped.
Meanwhile, there were rumblings on the opposition benches. After their second consecutive defeat in 1998, Michael Portillo resigned the National leadership, and the party chose Iain Duncan Smith to succeed him. IDS, as he was almost universally known, was a controversial figure – a strident right-winger, he believed in a massive reduction of state power, withdrawal from the European Union and stricter immigration policy, all ideas far out of the Overton Window at the time. The Nationals were never going to do very well in the climate of the time (good economy, popular incumbent Labour government that was mostly unmarred by scandal), but IDS' leadership seemed to have made the situation actively worse. The Liberals, meanwhile, were seeing the end of their crisis, with the green faction splitting off to form their own party and the remainder veering increasingly to the right. Brian Paddick, the new Liberal leader, was making vague noises about law and order, an approach that won him and his party publicity, but caused some to doubt whether or not he was actually a credible small-L liberal. This was the backdrop against which the 2001 General Election was called.
The campaign proved eventful, but not for Labour – Prescott toured the country almost like a monarch, making noncommittal speeches asking for continued confidence, and making very few concrete promises for the upcoming term. He made few direct overtures to the electorate because he knew he wouldn't need to – he could simply watch as the opposition tore itself apart and coast back into Number 10 on the competence vote. This strategy proved more successful than he could've dreamed of, as the National Party was marred by both IDS' perceived radicalism and unfitness to govern and a number of scandals concerning local campaigners making racist remarks about South Asians. Election night confirmed the trends of the campaign, as the Nationals slumped to some fifteen percent of the vote while the Liberals surged nearly to the point of overtaking them. A brief abortive attempt to form a minority Liberal government fell apart when the Greens refused to countenance a deal with the party they'd left, and Labour ended up returning to power.
Prescott's campaign style in the 2001 elections would prove a sign of things to come, as the governing party appeared more stale and out of touch than ever. To make things worse for Labour, the opposition parties learned their lessons and for the first time since 1965 presented a united alternative. The Alliance for Britain was launched by the Nationals, Liberals, Centre and Ulster Unionists at the ancestral farm of the Centre leader, where the leaders made appearances on the porch in informal wear, drinking tea and chatting in a perfectly ordinary manner. This contrasted rather sharply with the budget negotiations at Chequers the same week, which featured all the Labour cabinet ministers in evening dress hobnobbing over cocktails and discussing technical aspects of politics. It was clear that Labour's days in office were numbered, but eventually the Nationals would go too far in their attempt to emulate Labour's recipe for success. When they held a May Day parade in 2004, marching with banners captioned “LOWER TAXES” and “MAKE WORK PAY”, they were roundly mocked by both the left and the media.
However, it was to be two years until the election was called – at the last possible moment – and in those two years, Prescott and his government did not go out of their way to portray an image of competence, reform-mindedness or much of anything except petty bickering and party fatigue. Biographies revealed that Prescott had hoped to retire in favour of Foreign Secretary Mo Mowlam – however, Mowlam's death from a brain tumour in 2003 had rendered such an option moot, and he was consigned to waiting around in office, with very few ideas or proposals beyond “stay in power”. This type of leadership style is seldom a vote-winner, and indeed it was to no one's surprise that the 2006 General Election resulted in Labour losing power once more. They were not to regain it for quite some time...
- Utgard96
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