Tony Blair has been credited with the emergence of 'New Labour' from 'Old Labour' when he was elected party leader in 1994 after the unexpected death of John Smith. Blair was determined to improve the image of the Labour party, and remove its associations with aged rigidity, and transform Labour into a 'young, modern party of the future for all voters'.

Although Blair has been credited for this transformation his reforms were simply a continuation of the small changes that were made under Neil Kinnock and John Smith's leadership. Who had both begun to radically alter the shape and structure of the party. The main reason for the changes implemented by Blair was that the party members realised that if Labour were to win the 1997 general election then drastic changes needed to take place. When Blair came into leadership the Conservatives were in a weak position with a weak leader in John Major, a huge change from Thatcher's strong leadership of the 80's. Blair manipulated this and portrayed Labour as the better option.

1996 saw the 'New Labour, new life for Britain' guidelines introduced, setting out the necessary changes that were to be made to the Labour party

The issue of constitutional reform has securely developed itself under Tony Blair, Labour's strong belief in decentralisation was shown almost immediately, with the devolution of Scotland and Wales, within two years of them entering government. The introduction of the Mayor of London is also another issue which shows New Labour's willingness to concentrate on regions. With four referendums being held under their time in office, an obvious agenda of devolution is apparent.

'New Labour' now relied upon modern technology and spin-doctors to publicise their policies. Unlike 'Old Labour's' approach of using activists to advertise their ideas, as they believed this approach to incorporated what the party believed in, fighting for the working classes. However today Blair has advanced 'new Labour' so much so that now the Conservative party are trailing behind.

Old Labour also criticised New Labour's reforms of the welfare state, as the former strongly believed in the idea of taking from the rich in order to benefit the less fortunate. This issue is seen as highly controversial, as it believes in the active conception of welfare, with the abolishment of universal benefits. Blair wanted to draw the public back into work. Labour now imposes duties and conditions on those who receive welfare. New enterprises such as the 'New Deal' have been introduced. Aiming to return the unemployed back to work via training and education. They have also introduced new pension schemes and hope to calculate pensions on a means tested basis in the future.

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Approximate Word count = 1704
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)