ment of the SDP around the issue of the Common Market in the resignation denkins and David Owen trom the front bench in 1972 Labour's commitment to a referendum on the issue of Britain's membership of the EEC. The year before with Shirley Williams they line whip to lead 66 Labour MPs into voting with the membership.
But if the Common Market was the issue the democrats coalesced it was not the only cause of their break.
The experience of the Wilson and Callaghan governments Convincel the left in the changes had to be made in the policies, constitution and leadership of the party. The growth of the left in the unions after 1968 meant that the block vote could not be used in the old reflexive way to defend the status quo. So in the two years that followed peter Labour left succeed, by and large, in attaining the first of its two objecLIve.
Table One armontie Small left-wing Labour rarty Owenite Small left-wing Labour Party Jenkinsite Labour Party Democratic Party attracted the open support of many right wing Labour Party figures — some of whom left the Party to join them and some who trade union leaders like Frank Chapple, Bill Sirs, Sid Weighell, Roy Grantham and Terry Duffy. The emergent further left advance in the party a way of subtracting sufficient Labour votes to render an overall majority for Labour in Parliament impossible; and possibly as a new and rising political Prospects for the latter objective spectacular successes in by-elections and in conjunction with the Liberals achieved opinion poll results which, served WILY political debate both insiae and ourside the Alliance about its political Realigned radical Conservatives party comprising Liberals and right wing Labour SDP Liberals Conservatives Liberal/SDP Conservatives WaN wide support in the Table Two Social class AB C1 C2 UC Sharpen boreanor.
tion where the Liberals ran second in 79 of the 339 seats won by the Tories, of the SDP was meant to provide such an instrument.
For David Owen the tandem with the Liberals was In Bogdanor bureaucracy, as