Old Newscast: How Labour Won In 1997 (Part 1)
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Hello! So over the summer, while Laura and Paddy are taking a well-deserved break, we've decided to give you a box set of Old Newscast episodes. So over the next six weekends, Old Newscast is going to tell the story, basically, of 30 years of British politics, but through the medium of six crucial votes. So I'll be joined in the Old Newscast studio by friends of the podcast and people who were there at the time to try and tell the story behind the story of those moments. Moments which... let's face it, really shaped 21st century politics in the UK. So we are starting this summer series by revisiting the general election of 1997. So to set the scene, first of all, by 1997, the Tories have been in power for 18 years.
11 of those were under Margaret Thatcher. John Major took over from her as Prime Minister in 1990. Kind of surprised everyone by winning the 1992 general election. But by 1997, The party was just being rocked every day, almost every hour, by allegations of sleaze and just big political splits over policy. In the meantime, Tony Blair had taken over the Labour Party in 1994, following the sudden death of its leader, John Smith. And after almost two decades in opposition, Blair's rebranded new Labour is surging in the opinion polls in quite an incredible way. Then, holding on until the last possible moment, on the 17th of March 1997, John Major calls the general election. Good morning. I'd like to formally confirm that I've seen Her Majesty the Queen this morning and sought her permission for a dissolution of Parliament and a general election on the 1st of May.
I'm delighted to tell you that Her Majesty has consented to that. So what was it really like as a journalist behind the scenes following New Labour's supposedly super-disciplined campaign? And how did it feel in Conservative HQ in the run-up to Major calling time on his own government? That is what I'll be discussing in the first summer instalment of Old Newscast with two friends of Newscast who were very much there. Newscast.
Newscast from the BBC. Tony Blair is to be Prime Minister and a landslide...
Hello, it's Adam in the old newscast studio and joining me down the line is Kirsty Warwick. Hey, hello. And what were you doing in 1997?
1997, I was following the election and then I presented the election programme in Scotland that night.
What is Old Newscast’s purpose and why focus on six votes over 30 years of British politics?
And here in the studio with me is Jeremy Vine. Hi, Jeremy. Gosh, you're taking me back here. That's the point of the format.
I think I was 32 or something. Oh, you are 40.
1997. And you had a specific deployment, didn't you?
Well, I was in the political unit with people like Mark Mardell, Nick Robinson, John Sargent, and I was told to go on the Blair battle bus. So I ended up in that situation where I was really grieving the professionalism of the Blair outfit. So they had three buses and it says something like New Britain, New Labour, vote for the future. And then occasionally one of the buses would be overtaken by a van saying, buy your sausages here. So we thought that was as exciting as it got. The message was broken up by an advert for mince pies or whatever. And then I was talking to John Soper, my colleague, who was on the major bus. And he said, there's like chaos here. It's like the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
And I suddenly realized this is going to be a problem. They're so tight. Actually, after 97, I realized politics is over and I left.
Right, OK, because the control freakery of the Labour Party.
Because politics is what happens inside parties, not between them. And there was nothing happening inside Labour for at least eight years after that. Because they were so disciplined. So disciplined, yeah.
Let's rewind a little bit.
There's a lot happening, but a lot in Scotland happening. We had a... True. Very true. But not in so much argument among Labour in Westminster.
Well, that was, as you say, that was that, you know, it was still, was it still Tim Allen along with it by then Alistair Campbell came in, Mandelson.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:24
2
What is Old Newscast’s purpose and why focus on six votes over 30 years of British politics?
3:24–5:25
3
How did the state of the Conservative government set the scene for 1997?
5:25–7:36
4
What factors contributed to New Labour’s surge under Tony Blair before 1997?
7:36–8:33
5
Why did John Major call the 1997 general election and what was his announcement?
8:33–15:45
6
What were journalists’ experiences on the Blair and Major campaign buses during the campaign run-up?
15:45–20:45
7
How did ‘sleaze’, Black Wednesday and internal splits weaken the Conservatives before the vote?
20:45–22:39