A modern history of the Labour Party: The fight against "revisionism"

Labour Briefing no. 73, 23 November 1988, p. 6 · printed under the name Paul Lawson

Transcribed or corrected by hand from the printed page.

Hugh Gaitskell was elected Labour Leader in 1955 by the right-wing majority of Labour MPs.

The left of the Labour Party was then organised around Tribune, edited by Michael Foot, led by Aneurin Bevan.

In 1957, Bevan surrendered, making his infamous "naked into the conference chamber" speech defending British nuclear weapons.

Labour went into the 1959 General Election with a united leadership (Gaitskell and Bevan). Only occasionally would Bevan signal any differences with the dominant right wing.

Despite Labour's unity, the Conservatives won. Tory Prime Minister Harold MacMillan cleverly exploited growing working class prosperity with his claim, "you've never had it so good".

Labour had now been out of power since 1951 and had lost three general elections in a row.

Gaitskell and his "revisionist" co-thinkers like Crosland and Douglas Jay began to wonder — like Kinnock and his co-thinkers today — whether socialism was inherently unpopular and whether mas affluence necessitated a move to the right.

Anthony Crosland, in his book The Future of Socialism argued that the mixed economy and welfare state had "civilised" capitalism, which was here to stay.

At the 1959 Labour Conference, Gaitskell argued that Labour was being kept out of power by "fundamental social forces" — growing working class affluence — to which it must adapt.

He proposed ditching Clause Four, which committed the Party to common ownership of the means of production. The response in the Party was immediate, and particularly in the unions — with the TGWU being adamant against any revision of Clause Four.

Throughout 1960 the battle over Clause Four raged. Gradually, bitterly, Gaitskell came to see that he could not win, or rather that if he pressed the issue and lost, his position as Leader would become untenable.

Eventually, the Gaitskellite right compromised, leaving the consitution intact, but drawing up a statement of "Aims and Values" which "clarified" the modern meaning of Clause Four. Sound familiar?

Now another challenge from the left confronted Gaitskell. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, founded in 1957, grew rapidly in the Labour Party and trade unions.

In February 1960 the Tory government decided to abandon the Blue Streak rocket which was becoming too expensive — leaving Britain without a credible independent nuclear delivery system.

The US promised to supply its Skybolt missile, but did Britain really need an independent deterrent? Gaitskell hesitated; then came down firmly in favour.

At that year's Scarborough Conference, the unilateralist tide was too strong. Gaitskell, in his leaders' speech, refused to accept the motion carried by Conference, and vowed to "fight, fight and fight again".

The Gaitskellite revisionists organised the "Campaign for Democratic Socialism" — the LCC of its day — to work in the constituencies and the unions against CND and the left and thus ensure that Gaitskell would defeat unilateralism at the 1961 Conference.

Many CDS leaders later became leading figures in the SDP (Bill Rogers, for example). In the absence of effective left wing organisation, CDS succeeded. In 1961, unilateralism was rejected.

A new issue now divided the Party — the Common Market. Gaitskell at first was unsure because of his loyalty to the Commonwealth. Finally, he and the revisionist right championed British entry, and a decades-long fight with the left was set in train.

Gaitskell died in 1963. Wilson became Labour Leader, and against the background of a declining economy and Tory scandals like the "Profumo affair" a Labour government was elected in 1964.

Although it included Gaitskellites such as Roy Jenkins and George Brown, it was dominated by ex-Bevanites — like Wilson himself, Barbara Castle and Richard Crossman.

But as we shall see, this wing of the leadership were in practice no more committed to basic socialist change than the Gaitskellites they replaced.

transcribed from the page image, 2 Nov 2026; spelling as printed (consitution, mas for mass, MacMillan, CDS twice for the Campaign for Democratic Socialism, leaders' speech). Kicker "A modern history of the Labour Party" in a band above the headline; the piece reads as one part of a series ("as we shall see"). By-line "By PAUL LAWSON" in a ruled panel at the head of the second column. The bold opening runs over two paragraphs and is kept bold. Complete on the page, no jump. Left out: two photographs with captions ("CND: although it was at its largest in the early 60s, the Campaign still motivated mass actions in the 70s and 80s."; "Labour Party Conference: still the scene of left victories — and a right wing backlash") and photo credits. "Govan verdict: Still time for Labour to lead" by Tony Southall below is a separate article.