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We Can’t Afford to be a Branch Office

The Territorial Dynamics of the British Labour Party, 2015–2019

Bibliographic Data

ID6313617
AuthorsCoree Brown Swan (0000-0002-7448-5966, Queen's University Belfast, corresponding author), Michael Kenny (University of Cambridge)
Year2024
Volume77
Issue1
Pages109-128
Publication date2024-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParliamentary Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-2290 • E-ISSN: 1460-2482
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/pa/gsac022
OpenAlexW4307466827
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited19

Despite having delivered devolution, the British Labour Party has faced significant challenges in adapting to, and competing effectively in, a multi-level political space. This article explores this dynamic in the context of a pivotal period of change (2015–2019), in which the party was led by Jeremy Corbyn, a political outsider, and when British politics was riven by Brexit. In this article we highlight the operation of a key strategic duality underlying the territorial politics pursued by both Scottish and Welsh Labour parties: an endemic and unresolved desire to seek greater autonomy from the UK party, on the one hand: and the preference to retain or gain influence at the centre of British politics, on the other. How these goals were pursued, and tensions between them managed by the territorial parties and their leaders, are central to an understanding of how the party handled the challenges created by devolution more broadly

Autonomy · Brexit · Context (archaeology · Devolution (biology · Economics · European union · Negotiation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Welsh · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration · Scottish History and National Identity

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Unique citing works3
Citations per year3
Citation span2025 - 2026 (2)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 3

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