ABSTRACT
Appointed as Labour leader in July 1992, John Smith consolidated the party’s attempt to relocate itself ideologically in the ‘centre’ and to reduce the influence of the union block vote by introducing ‘one member, one vote’ for the selection of parliamentary candidates. Yet Smith was reluctant to step up the pace of reform and was soon criticized by some shadow Cabinet members, like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who wanted to intensify the process of what they saw as ‘modernization’. Wright and Carter note the ‘rumblings of discontent’1 that existed by 1993 over both Smith’s consensual style of leadership and his gradualist attitude towards fundamental internal change. Tony Blair was then given the chance to implement his drive for root-and-branch reform of the party by John Smith’s sudden death in May 1994. New Labour, as Blair’s project came to be known at the end of 1994, could be characterized by its emphasis on three features: ‘modernization’ of party policies, ideologies and structures; the professionalization of the party’s presentation and campaigning skills; and the neutralization of the influence of a traditionally anti-Labour mass media.
