ABSTRACT
In 1992 John Smith took over from Neil Kinnock as Leader of the Labour Party. In 1994 Smith died and Tony Blair was elected Leader. It may well be that either Kinnock or Smith would have led the Labour Party into a very different future after the 1997 General Election. All three Leaders were of the ethical socialist kind rather than belonging to the economic efficiency wing of the Party. Blair was a member of the Christian Socialist group but he wanted to modernise the Party in such a way as both to make it more electable, appealing to the middle classes, and to produce a country that would be more competitive internationally. He wanted to combine both ethics and efficiency. His support for faith schools has two motives. First, he believes that they provide a moral and religious basis for the young that most state schools do not; second, he believes that faith schools generally are likely to be more effective academically than ‘bog standard’ comprehensive schools. (That unfortunate phrase was not used by Blair himself but by his press officer; Blair seems, however, to share the opinion that the typical comprehensive school is likely to be sub-standard.)
In the period from 1994 to the Election in 1997, there were several important changes in Labour Party education policies that affected not only the Party but also the whole of the country. First, comprehensive schools would be ‘modernised’; second, selection of various kinds would be quietly encouraged. Grammar schools were not to be abolished without local ballots of a kind that were almost impossible to organise; specialist schools would be encouraged; and faith schools would also be supported in general, and for minority faiths in particular. Specialist schools and faith schools were seen by many educationists as a form of selection, even if only by schools interviewing parents. Faith schools were also increasingly seen by parents as a superior tier of the secondary school system.
