http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/06/01/did-blair-and-brown-fail-on-inequality/ Lane Kenworthy Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:19:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/06/01/did-blair-and-brown-fail-on-inequality/#comment-1322 jonathan hopkin Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:48:12 +0000 http://lanekenworthy.net/?p=2905#comment-1322 Hi Lane You're dead right that the distribution of income gains was far better under Labour than the Conservatives, but in the end there was so much to do that this didn't prove enough. Labour had a decade of untrammeled power under the Westminster model and rather 'bottled out' in the end. The chart from Brewer et al also gives us a nice clue as to why Labour's support is collapsing. There was a redistribution from the median voter - or something just to the right of him/her - to the poorer and richer parts of society. The 4th-8th deciles are too big a bunch of voters to mess with, and they would have done better under a less redistributive regime. Hi Lane
You’re dead right that the distribution of income gains was far better under Labour than the Conservatives, but in the end there was so much to do that this didn’t prove enough. Labour had a decade of untrammeled power under the Westminster model and rather ‘bottled out’ in the end.
The chart from Brewer et al also gives us a nice clue as to why Labour’s support is collapsing. There was a redistribution from the median voter – or something just to the right of him/her – to the poorer and richer parts of society. The 4th-8th deciles are too big a bunch of voters to mess with, and they would have done better under a less redistributive regime.

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