New Labour and Political Myth

The 1997 UK General Election preceded 13 years of New Labour government. It would be a further 14 years until the Labour Party next held office. Following the initial disavowal of New Labour by many in the wake of the 2010 General Election, these 14 years saw the emergence of a positive narrative regarding New Labour and its time in office – in addition to the reestablishment of what can be seen as ‘New Labour people’ reproducing this narrative – in the mainstream of British political life. In this paper, we use the concept of political myth to explore the persistence of the ideas, strategy, and personnel of New Labour. We begin by defining the concept of political myth in greater detail, drawing out its key features as outlined in the existing literature. We then introduce the case of New Labour, giving an account of the emergence of what we term the New Labour Myth. We then demonstrate how this case falls under the concept of political myth using evidence drawn from a variety of sources across the post-2010 period. Taken together, we argue that the New Labour Myth constitutes an important strain of thought in contemporary British politics.