John Smith's settlement? The work of the 1992-1993 Labour Party Trade Union Links Review Group

In this article, I examine the work of the 1992-1993 Labour party trade union links review group. I ask whether the measures it proposed amounted to a new, durable settlement which governed internal relationships within the party. I detail disagreements amongst trade unions over the format that parliamentary selections should take; I evaluate the demands for reform of the party-union link; I ask whether support for reform and for OMOV was falling in the early 1990s; I consider whether unions launched a ‘no say no pay campaign’ with regard to the Labour party; I assess how much restraint was demonstrated at this time by Labour’s affiliated unions; and I consider what might have been at stake in these debates more generally. I conclude that there was considerable antagonism in party-union relations during the early 1990s and that the work of the review group did not amount to an enduring settlement