Craig Johnson

• BA (Hons) Politics
• A Pluralist or Majoritarian Future? The AV referendum and the Strategic Direction of the Labour Party.

Election defeat in 2010 and the formation of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition reopened a long-standing debate within the Labour Party. Should it remain ‘tribalist’ in outlook, seeking to form single party majority governments? Or should it adopt a more pluralist strategy, seeking to govern as part of a broader ‘progressive alliance’? This project will identify the balance of opinion within the party as revealed in campaigning on the Alternative Vote referendum. Its findings will provide an essential insight into the ideological and strategic direction of the Labour Party, and British politics more generally, in the run-up to the next election.

Funding Source: Newcastle University