Module manager: Dr Timothy Heppell
Email: t.heppell@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is approved as a discovery module
This module seeks to explain how the Labour Party have defined and positioned themselves as a means to ensure electoral success (the politics of support) and then to demonstrate governing competence (the politics of power). The module will consider how the statecraft strategies adopted by the Labour Party have evolved since 1945 as mechanisms designed to ensure that they can present themselves as a party of government. Considerable emphasis will be placed on examining the ideological disputes that have disfigured Labour party politics since 1945, as the module will examine the debates on nationalisation, unilateralism and the common market, within the context of the conflict between the socialist left and the social democratic right.
The aim of the module is to examine the development of the Labour Party in government and opposition since 1945.The module will provide students with an appreciation of the main achievements, challenges and failings of all post war Labour governments. It will provide students with an understanding of how and why respective Labour governments lost office and how in opposition recovery and renewal was achieved. To aid students in this the module will exploit statecraft theory and its various component parts - i.e. effective party management; electoral strategy; political argument hegemony and governing competence. Throughout the module students will reflect upon the ideological disputes that have characterised post-war Labour Party politics. Students will thereby gain an appreciation of disagreements over economic, foreign, European and defence policy that defined the conflict between the socialist left and the social democratic right. Students will also gain an appreciation of the case for ideological modernisation that culminated in New Labour and the critique made of New Labour from the left. The module will also provide students with an opportunity to explore the tensions that have emerged within the post-New Labour era. This emphasis on ideological factionalism will enable to students to reflect on the complexities in terms of party management within the Labour Party, and how ideological factionalism can be linked to leadership selection within the party.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1.demonstrate a critical understanding of the historical development of the Labour Party in government and opposition since 1945;
2. demonstrate an in depth knowledge of the internal ideological disputes that have characterised Labour Party politics and their impact on party management and party leadership selection;
3. demonstrate a command of a range of literature on post war Labour Party politics;
4. appraise competing theories about the politics of the Labour Party;
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Synthesise bodies of information and to present these in an accessible and succinct way.
5. Develop a reasoned argument and to present this in an accessible and succinct way.
6. Develop the ability to explain and criticise the positions of both self and others.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Seminar | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Private study hours | 179 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 21 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
A formal formative assessment opportunity will be provided for each summative assessment task, which is specifically pedagogically aligned to that task. As part of this, each student will receive feedback designed to support the development of knowledge and skills that will be later assessed in the summative task.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | . | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 08/05/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team