The Labour Party in Scotland

Religion, the Union, and the Irish Dimension

verfasst von: Graham Walker

Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book makes a timely contribution to our understanding of the dramatic political changes that have recently affected Scotland and thrown into doubt the country’s future position within the United Kingdom. Its focus is on the Labour Party and the loss of its traditional electoral support base. This theme is related to religion and its relevance to Scotland’s identity politics. The author examines how Labour was able to appeal across the ethno-religious divide in Scotland for many decades, before considering the impact of the new political context of devolution in the 21st century and the greater scrutiny given to the question of sectarianism in Scottish life. Walker demonstrates the role played by the sectarianism controversy in Labour’s loss of political control and its eclipse by the Scottish National Party (SNP). This book is also the first to assess the significance of the Irish dimension in Scotland’s political development, in particular the impact of the conflict in nearby Northern Ireland. It will appeal to students and scholars of Scottish and Irish politics, political science and political/electoral history, as well as the interested wider reader.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. A Century of Labour in Scotland: Struggles and Achievements

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the historical development of the Labour Party in Scotland and its relative degree of success in securing the working-class vote across religious lines. It highlights the importance of the party to the Catholic community of Irish descent in Scotland, and it examines the relationship between the party and the Catholic Church and the way that certain sensitive moral questions were played down, and other issues like education left unchallenged, to avoid any confrontation between church and party. The chapter also assesses the appeal of the party to Protestants: the extent to which it could embody a sense of Presbyterian virtue and equity, and the extent to which it could even pitch for the ‘Orange vote’.

Graham Walker

Chapter 2. The Sectarianism Debate and the Advent of Devolution

Abstract

This chapter focusses on the way religious sectarianism became a major topic of public debate in Scotland from the 1990s. It considers the media coverage of the issue and how it became entangled in the Labour–Scottish National Party (SNP) power struggle. It puts the controversy firmly into the context of the early days of devolution in Scotland. The chapter examines Jack McConnell’s ‘crusade’ around the issue and questions its political value; it is contended that Labour by the 2000s was effectively unable to tell the positive story of the containment of sectarianism in the past and the extent to which working-class people were persuaded to unite around socio-economic matters. The chapter also assesses the SNP’s handling of the topic in government, including its football legislation of 2012.

Graham Walker

Chapter 3. ‘Indyref’, Identity Politics, and the Union in Question

Abstract

This chapter examines the book’s theme in the period of the long independence referendum campaign and final vote on 18 September 2014. It also considers subsequent political developments, in particular the 2015 general election and the SNP’s achievement of winning 56 out of 59 Scottish seats. It discusses changes in political behaviour in the Catholic community, the divisions that have crystallised among Protestants, and the political effects of the growth of the ‘No Religion’ category in Scottish life. It examines the continuing significance of Irish influences in west-central Scotland, and the latest report into the question of sectarianism. It argues that the Labour Party, in attempting to revive its fortunes, needs to challenge the prevailing identity politics and the narratives and assumptions around them.

Graham Walker

Chapter 4. Conclusion

Abstract

This concluding chapter draws together the various strands of the book and stresses the way that the Labour Party struggled to command the new devolved context of Scottish politics after 1999. It again highlights the salience of the sectarianism debate to the Party’s loss of political authority in Scotland and its eclipse by the SNP. The chapter provides further comment on the apparent triumph of identity politics in contemporary Scotland and on the role of religion in public life.

Graham Walker

Backmatter

Titel: The Labour Party in Scotland
verfasst von: Graham Walker
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-137-58844-9
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58843-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58844-9