Commonwealth Elections of 1988
Representing the World's Citizens? Democratic Politics in the Commonwealth Assembly
Since the introduction of elections to the Commonwealth Assembly, the organisation had diluted the number of AMs given to each member state to accommodate new members, although each time ensuring that the Big Four had the largest, and equal, shares. Further elections were held in 1967, 1974 and 1981 and, in each case, the Socialists used their superior organisation and campaigning skills to secure the largest number of seats. The Socialists had governed in an informal alliance with the Liberals and Democrats without much controversy under the long speakership of the Socialist Tony Crosland (1962-1981), with the Assembly as a whole remaining a relatively dry and technical body. When Crosland announced that he would be stepping down following the 1981 elections, the Socialists went into them with Michael Manley, the former West Indian prime minister, as their Speaker-designate. Following the elections in 1981, Manley had managed his speakership in an alliance between his Socialists and the Green grouping lead by Enos Nkala.
During his tenure, Manley was vigorous in his assertion that the number of AMs should be apportioned according to population sizes and this campaign took on a force of its own and survived the announcement that Manley would be leaving the Assembly in 1988 to return to domestic politics. In 1985, the Armstrong Report had published a series of proposals for altering the make-up of the Assembly, including expanding the number of AMs from 410 to 525, reducing the number of AMs allocated to some countries and increasing the number allocated to others. After discussion at a Prime Minister’s conference in early 1986, agreement was eventually made on what became known as the Treaty of Auckland.
While the Auckland Treaty agreed to hold Commonwealth elections in 1988, on schedule, and with the AM proportionality suggested in the Armstrong Report, it contained a number of provisions to reserve power for the Commonwealth Cabinet and the member states’ governments. In particular, the Cabinet’s power to veto regulations passed by the Assembly were strengthened, as was the power of the prime ministers to conduct diplomacy, geopolitics and oversight of the Bank of England, the Asset Management Agency and the Financial Stability Fund. In addition, the treaty agreed to allow each member state to decide the methods by which AMs would be elected. Popularly and proportionally elected the Assembly may be, but it would only be in a limited sense and would continue to be a relatively dry, regulatory body for the foreseeable future. The apportionment of AMs was agreed as follows and was subject to review ahead of each election:
Although, because of the increase in seats, most of the parties gained seats, the fundamental configuration did not change much despite the reapportionment. The Socialists retained their position as the largest party in the Assembly and, indeed, slightly increased their position as a percentage of the seats. The Liberal Democrats once more came second, although under their leader (and Speaker-designate during the elections) Margaret Thatcher she attempted to pull them down an increasingly free market direction, which left them divided and often utterly ineffective on a legislative level.
The Conservative and Reformist group (renamed simply the Conservatives in 1969) had gone down a quixotic path. Taken over by Siaosi Tupou, the crown prince of Tonga (a division of the Pacific Islands Federation), in 1978, it had combined paternalistic support for welfare states with support for traditionalist social structures. Many joked that they were little more than a monarchist fan club but they were more serious than that label might imply. Tupou was a close ally of Ferdinand Mount in the UK and his politics were closer to Mount’s own tory socialism than anything else. They thus found themselves voting with the Socialists on several issues, certainly more than the supporters of either grouping liked to admit.
The other main right wing party was the Nationalist Party. Following the collapse of the pro-apartheid Commonwealth Grouping of Nations and Freedom in the late 1960s, the Nationalists had risen up over the course of the 1970s as a kind of representative of the far right, although of a very different character: rather than an implicit (or explicit) support for apartheid and white supremacy, the modern Nationalists were defined by their post-Hogg-Manley Angloscepticism. Following his controversial handling of the Commonwealth response to the Benglai War of Independence, Zia-ul-haq had left the army and entered politics, first as a member of the Pakistani legislature and later in the Commonwealth Assembly. While whether this Angloscepticism meant the full dissolution of the bloc or just a reform of its institutions differed according to each AM, it managed to be a loose umbrella under which a coalition that included Rhodesian segregationists and Pakistani Islamists could cohere. In practice, they took up an oppositional position in the Assembly, arguing against proposed new regulations that, they believed, would unfairly bind the member states closer to one another.
The final grouping was the only one to actually lose seats in the election (it was heavily damaged by the reduction in seats from Canada and Australia): the Greens. Growing out of Palme-Dutt’s Communist Free Alliance grouping, the Greens remained a home for the Commonwealth far left but had increasingly been taken over by the environmentalist movement. Prominent AMs such as Teddy Goldsmith (brother of the British Environment Secretary James Goldsmith) were significant public figures arguing in support of the environmental reforms of the 1970s and ‘80s. In practice, they voted with the Socialists on most matters.
Since the introduction of elections to the Commonwealth Assembly, the organisation had diluted the number of AMs given to each member state to accommodate new members, although each time ensuring that the Big Four had the largest, and equal, shares. Further elections were held in 1967, 1974 and 1981 and, in each case, the Socialists used their superior organisation and campaigning skills to secure the largest number of seats. The Socialists had governed in an informal alliance with the Liberals and Democrats without much controversy under the long speakership of the Socialist Tony Crosland (1962-1981), with the Assembly as a whole remaining a relatively dry and technical body. When Crosland announced that he would be stepping down following the 1981 elections, the Socialists went into them with Michael Manley, the former West Indian prime minister, as their Speaker-designate. Following the elections in 1981, Manley had managed his speakership in an alliance between his Socialists and the Green grouping lead by Enos Nkala.
During his tenure, Manley was vigorous in his assertion that the number of AMs should be apportioned according to population sizes and this campaign took on a force of its own and survived the announcement that Manley would be leaving the Assembly in 1988 to return to domestic politics. In 1985, the Armstrong Report had published a series of proposals for altering the make-up of the Assembly, including expanding the number of AMs from 410 to 525, reducing the number of AMs allocated to some countries and increasing the number allocated to others. After discussion at a Prime Minister’s conference in early 1986, agreement was eventually made on what became known as the Treaty of Auckland.
While the Auckland Treaty agreed to hold Commonwealth elections in 1988, on schedule, and with the AM proportionality suggested in the Armstrong Report, it contained a number of provisions to reserve power for the Commonwealth Cabinet and the member states’ governments. In particular, the Cabinet’s power to veto regulations passed by the Assembly were strengthened, as was the power of the prime ministers to conduct diplomacy, geopolitics and oversight of the Bank of England, the Asset Management Agency and the Financial Stability Fund. In addition, the treaty agreed to allow each member state to decide the methods by which AMs would be elected. Popularly and proportionally elected the Assembly may be, but it would only be in a limited sense and would continue to be a relatively dry, regulatory body for the foreseeable future. The apportionment of AMs was agreed as follows and was subject to review ahead of each election:
Although, because of the increase in seats, most of the parties gained seats, the fundamental configuration did not change much despite the reapportionment. The Socialists retained their position as the largest party in the Assembly and, indeed, slightly increased their position as a percentage of the seats. The Liberal Democrats once more came second, although under their leader (and Speaker-designate during the elections) Margaret Thatcher she attempted to pull them down an increasingly free market direction, which left them divided and often utterly ineffective on a legislative level.
The Conservative and Reformist group (renamed simply the Conservatives in 1969) had gone down a quixotic path. Taken over by Siaosi Tupou, the crown prince of Tonga (a division of the Pacific Islands Federation), in 1978, it had combined paternalistic support for welfare states with support for traditionalist social structures. Many joked that they were little more than a monarchist fan club but they were more serious than that label might imply. Tupou was a close ally of Ferdinand Mount in the UK and his politics were closer to Mount’s own tory socialism than anything else. They thus found themselves voting with the Socialists on several issues, certainly more than the supporters of either grouping liked to admit.
The other main right wing party was the Nationalist Party. Following the collapse of the pro-apartheid Commonwealth Grouping of Nations and Freedom in the late 1960s, the Nationalists had risen up over the course of the 1970s as a kind of representative of the far right, although of a very different character: rather than an implicit (or explicit) support for apartheid and white supremacy, the modern Nationalists were defined by their post-Hogg-Manley Angloscepticism. Following his controversial handling of the Commonwealth response to the Benglai War of Independence, Zia-ul-haq had left the army and entered politics, first as a member of the Pakistani legislature and later in the Commonwealth Assembly. While whether this Angloscepticism meant the full dissolution of the bloc or just a reform of its institutions differed according to each AM, it managed to be a loose umbrella under which a coalition that included Rhodesian segregationists and Pakistani Islamists could cohere. In practice, they took up an oppositional position in the Assembly, arguing against proposed new regulations that, they believed, would unfairly bind the member states closer to one another.
The final grouping was the only one to actually lose seats in the election (it was heavily damaged by the reduction in seats from Canada and Australia): the Greens. Growing out of Palme-Dutt’s Communist Free Alliance grouping, the Greens remained a home for the Commonwealth far left but had increasingly been taken over by the environmentalist movement. Prominent AMs such as Teddy Goldsmith (brother of the British Environment Secretary James Goldsmith) were significant public figures arguing in support of the environmental reforms of the 1970s and ‘80s. In practice, they voted with the Socialists on most matters.