The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General Election
When Theresa May claimed that the Conservative Party was dubbed the “Nasty Party” in October 2002, few were those who could have contradicted her. It had suffered a second landslide defeat and its image and reputation had been damaged by the violence of the Thatcher years and tainted by accusations...
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Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/9458 |
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| author | Alma-Pierre Bonnet |
| author_facet | Alma-Pierre Bonnet |
| author_sort | Alma-Pierre Bonnet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When Theresa May claimed that the Conservative Party was dubbed the “Nasty Party” in October 2002, few were those who could have contradicted her. It had suffered a second landslide defeat and its image and reputation had been damaged by the violence of the Thatcher years and tainted by accusations of racism. Seventeen years later, after Corbyn’s historic defeat in the 2019 general election, it seems that the tables have turned. Labour’s failure to bring its social(ist) message home during the so-called “once in a lifetime” election might be the climax of a decade in the wilderness. In this paper, we posit that Labour’s defeat can, in part, be explained by its incapacity to deal with one new defining element of British politics, the issue of culture. Labour willingly ignored the cultural dimension of the 2019 general election and instead, decided to focus on traditional economic policies that further alienated its traditional supporters. The first part will be devoted to the importance of culture in the 2019 general election and focus on a recent paradigm shift whereby culture is now essential in Western politics. The second part will deal with Labour’s cultural conundrum, that is, their inability to acknowledge the new cultural reality. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0713ac4dca5d4d85946fcb18fc64f9d9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0248-9015 2429-4373 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
| spelling | doaj-art-0713ac4dca5d4d85946fcb18fc64f9d92024-12-09T15:26:11ZengCentre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation BritanniqueRevue Française de Civilisation Britannique0248-90152429-43732022-06-0127210.4000/rfcb.9458The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General ElectionAlma-Pierre BonnetWhen Theresa May claimed that the Conservative Party was dubbed the “Nasty Party” in October 2002, few were those who could have contradicted her. It had suffered a second landslide defeat and its image and reputation had been damaged by the violence of the Thatcher years and tainted by accusations of racism. Seventeen years later, after Corbyn’s historic defeat in the 2019 general election, it seems that the tables have turned. Labour’s failure to bring its social(ist) message home during the so-called “once in a lifetime” election might be the climax of a decade in the wilderness. In this paper, we posit that Labour’s defeat can, in part, be explained by its incapacity to deal with one new defining element of British politics, the issue of culture. Labour willingly ignored the cultural dimension of the 2019 general election and instead, decided to focus on traditional economic policies that further alienated its traditional supporters. The first part will be devoted to the importance of culture in the 2019 general election and focus on a recent paradigm shift whereby culture is now essential in Western politics. The second part will deal with Labour’s cultural conundrum, that is, their inability to acknowledge the new cultural reality.https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/9458cultureBrexitLabour2019 general electionCorbyn |
| spellingShingle | Alma-Pierre Bonnet The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General Election Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique culture Brexit Labour 2019 general election Corbyn |
| title | The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General Election |
| title_full | The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General Election |
| title_fullStr | The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General Election |
| title_full_unstemmed | The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General Election |
| title_short | The New “Nasty Party”? Labour and the Issue of Culture in the 2019 General Election |
| title_sort | new nasty party labour and the issue of culture in the 2019 general election |
| topic | culture Brexit Labour 2019 general election Corbyn |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/9458 |
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