ABSTRACT
The British Labour Party never subscribed to a systematic ideology and even its friends have complained of its lack of creed as its ‘gravest weakness’ (Tawney 1981:55–6). Most of its leaders, however, have found this eclecticism convenient, and some of them have justified it as a reflection of a healthy scepticism in British popular culture (Gaitskell 1955:922). The party has often expressed pride in its ideologically inclusive character. Yet this ‘broad church’ has sometimes seemed to contain ideological enemies intent on mutual destruction. On other occasions the internecine disputes which characterize periods in the party’s history have receded and the party has been led by mere pragmatists.
