ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the internal politics of the Labour Party between 1964 and 1970, focusing on the problem of party management. Party management – sustaining the unity or cohesion of a party and the willingness of its members, at all levels, to work together to promote shared goals – is a vital function within political parties. Cohesion, the co-ordination of collective effort, is the rationale behind party formation; parties seek to harness the energies of their members in the effort to realise shared goals. But equally, conflict – over policy, ideology, strategy and the distribution of power – is inevitable in any mass political organisation. Members will often interpret somewhat differently the precise aims and values of the party, and disagree about the particular policy instruments which best give effect to them. They will have different conceptions of the interests which the party should serve, and how. They will have differing views as to how power should be apportioned within the party, and with what justification. They will also disagree about how best their party can extend its popular appeal. Not least, personalities and ambitions will inevitably come into conflict. It is evident, therefore, that dissension is an inexorable feature of political and intra-party life.
