Labour Party of Bancairn
From Constructed worlds
The Labour Party (originally Labourers & Workers Party) is a Bancairn political party, founded in 1831 by John LeMazure, and known colloquially as "the Labour Party" or "Labour" (not to be confused with the British Labour Party). It is considered to be at the left-wing of the Socialist Party.
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[edit] Party doctrine & political stance
The Party is currently of Socialist obedience, with an emphasis on local politics and grassroots democracy. Historically, its political stance varied from various socialist and left-wing ideas at its creation to neo-marxism in the 1950s, and finally Socialism today. The Labour Party has considered the Socialist Party successively as its rival and ally, with two coalitions between both of them and currently a third in the form of the Social-Democratic Alliance. (see also: Coalition of 1950 and Coalition of 1971).
The Party currently supports a strict control on the market economy, fiscal conservatism and social liberalism, being slightly more liberal than the Socialist Party. It has traditionally been in favour of the Republican form of Government, and, unlike the Socialist Party, supports Revolutionary socialism rather than Reformist socialism. This more radical stance places the Labour Party further left than the Socialist Party, though both are typically socialist. However, in recent years, the latter has been said to have slumped into a form of socialist conservatism, and believed by certain citizens to be corrupt and decadent, though recent figures show a still strong, albeit decreasing, popularity.
[edit] History
[edit] Origins & foundation
Though its manifesto was written in 1831, the existence of the Bancairn Labourers & Workers Party wasn't made public until 1838, in what many believe was the most insolent jibe at the King ever. The public evocation of a democratic political party was made illegal by the Council soon afterwards, as LeMazure was once again sent to prison. However, when the Republic was founded, the Labour Party was re-established, but its lack of a true leader was to disadvantage it in the following series of elections, which it all failed to win a majority in.
The Labour Party, quite unusually, was formed at a time when the main doctrines of socialism were non-existent and were hardly known. As a result, what became the Labour Party had blurred borders and not a very definite stance in Parliament. The first Labour Party members were more parented to the defunct Whigs than true socialists or social democrats, and the word "labour" was often misleading, as the notions of organized labour did not yet exist, the industry being relatively small. So, from 1839 to 1867, the Labour Party was merely a way of opposing the Conservative Party and providing Bancairn politics with "another side" of matters and "opposition Conservatives".
However, on the rare occasions on which worker's interests were concerned, Labour consistently took the side of the Conservatives, preferring dialog to strikes and keeping away from the people. The few Labour politicians to actually leave the comfortable position of institutionalized opposition were true socialists, such as William Hodney, who were spontaneous Christians, interpreting social charity in a certain way, rather than ideological socialists.
[edit] The Grand Years (1839-1867)
During the Grand Years, when the Conservatives were in power for a consecutive 28 years, the Labour Party was defeated in seven General Elections, from 1839 to 1863; with the rivaling Socialist Worker's Party even beating them in the number of Parliament seats between 1855 and 1867. The Party, disorganized and lacking a strong leader, was easily defeated in national and local elections.
[edit] The 1846 Worker's Insurrection
During the 1846 Worker's Insurrection, the Labour Party was weak and refused to openly oppose the Conservatives on policy. Some of their members, like William Hodney, who had the trust of many workers, were sent to appease the latters before they revolted; but they were generally unable to stand up for many of their voters. As a result, the strike was bloodily crushed and Labour earned a bad name from much of their traditional electorate, who diverted their vote to Independents or even Conservatives in the 1847 General Elections.
[edit] The 1867 General Election
In 1867, The Labour Party won support in Parliament from a fraction of the Liberal Democrats and Radical Party, which enabled Labour candidate Howard Neighbor to win the premiership. It was the first minority Government in the history of the Bancairn Republic, as the Conservative Party were still a majority in the House.
