Implicancias para la política municipal y la gestión local

CONSERVATIVE 0 0 0 0 0

LIBERAL/ALLIANCE 0 1 2 4 7

LABOUR Y 6 5 3 21

OTHER 0 0 0 0 0

WGKEH: CGflSER V A'i 1VE 0 u LIBERAL/ALLIANCE 0 2 LABOUR 6 4 OTHER 0 1 HQ VOTE 1 0

0

0

0

1

This small and. unrepresentative group illustrates the kind of drift

away from the Labour party, amongst some of it’s traditional

supporters, which has taken place in the last decade. Given the pre­ eminence of Kinnock's 'new realism', however, a drift of support back to the Labour Party is a possibility. Only three of the men and two of the women in this group could be described unequivocally as Labour supporters. The remainder vacillate between 'business' labourism and support for the Liberal/S.D.P. Alliance.

There was a high degree of cynicism about politicians and the political process. Several also commented on the failure of nationalisation to improve efficiency and democratise working conditions

in the steei industry; Harry Atkins:

" People think they've got it easy when they're nationalised [] there's so much empire building goes off on nationalisation [] the workers are a lot to blame as well because they think 'Oh we're nationalised, we're O.K. now like ...' I used to think we were nationalised for the good of us but it seemed to peter into the sand like the forward drive L] it didn't change nought really, I mean we kept the same gaffers and everything tI it never worked out like it should do. "

Amongst' the group as a whole there has been a general drift no the centre of British politics, in spite of strong recollections of their working class origins and the hard working lives most had experienced. Don Hamlyn's comments were typical:

" I'd always been Labour 'cos me dad were Labour before me t J he were a union rep. like and it were always drilled into me from an early age to be a Labour supporter and that's what I were. I always voted Labour but nowadays I vote S.D.P., 'cos I think t*Labour Party is pulling too far to the left and the Tories are puliing too far to the right and we want someone in the middle I think."

The women, overall, were slightly more supportive of the Liberal /S.D.P. Alliance than the men. Over the life course as a whole their expressed political views were, on all issues, more conservative. As Alice Hodgson observed:

" There's nobody at ail in tne Labour Party I admire, I don't admire anybody in the Conservative Party and the only man I do really think is alright is Owen, David Owen LJ there's none of the three parties that 1 really admire. 1 don't know why but they seem to have lost that bit of sting they used to have U anyway when all's said and done most politicians don't care about ordinary folk like us,[3"

The reasons for this shift away from support to the Labour Party are of course complex and will be fully explored in the results section but one of the main reasons was expressed by June Trevett:

" At one time, i was very staunch Labour but not anymore I'm afraid...er. .. old time Labour not this loony left which is on the go at the moment. 1 think that Margaret Thatcher has done some good things but the other side always cries her down [] I suppose I'm middle of the road H 1 think we've moved up the ladder a little bit, that probably sounds snobby...I mean we're still working class even though we’ve moved up the ladder... Uhm, 1 don't want extremes, if you know what 1 mean."

Amongst the staff group, there has been a much more marked shift away from support for Labour to the Liberal/S.D.P. Alliance. Again, the women, throughout the life course were more conservative in outlook than the men. No-one in this group was a paid up member of a political party, involved in trades union activities or active in local politics.

Their past and future voting intentions in 196b were as follows:

Figure 10 : Voting Patterns of the Works Group [Over 55sl

1952 1979 NEXT TIME LOCAL TOTALS

CONSERVATIVE 0 1 0 0 1 LIBERAL/ALLIANCE 0 2 4 4 10 LABOUR 7 4 3 3 17 OTHER 0 0 0 0 0 HO VOTE 0 0 0 0 0 - 145 -

CONSERVAllVE

0

1

1

0

2

LIBERAL/ALLIANCE

0

3

4

5

12

LABOUR

V

3

2

2

14

OTHER

0

0

0

0

0

NO VOTE

0

0

0

0

0

Even those who still regarded themselves as Labour supporters voiced criticisms about Labour policies, in particular at 'extremism' in the party. Arthur Butcher:

" Ve we seem to be in a situation where the...the Labour Government wants to nationalise everything and then these people come along and they're de-nationalising everything [] the Labour people are saying, you know 'Whatever you do, we shall re-nationalise it when we get back into office', so I mean whether you believe in nationalisation or not this cannot be a good thing for the country as a whole can it? I don't think either parties are being fair to the British people who have elected them [] I don't think Neil Kinnock is [3 getting the support, 1 think he possibly could steer the party down the right avenues to make a, to make a solid. .. er. .. opposition 13 I mean after all's said and done he's been democratically elected as

leader and he should be getting the support of the party and he's .just not getting that. I mean while you've got people like Tony Benn that's sniping at various things there's no way...I mean while we've got these extremities there's no way you're going to have any serious opposition [3 the Conservatives must be laughing at the situation."

Several felt that the Thatcher Administration had injected a sense of 'realism' into British public life, Francis Adams:

" 1 think she's got the message across that as nobody else's has, sort oi thing, that we've got to stand on our own two feet and if we don't get sorted out we're going to go down the drain in relation to other countries, U There's been a tremendous sort out of industry, surplus unnecessary labour and waste in industry that no-one else ever tackled and it's still going on, you know I think this wanted doing. 1 mean I've seen things in the Corporation that should have been settled years and years ago and it's only been people like McGregor who've got hold of it by the scruff of the neck and got on with it, others were just play acting."

The women were in general less politically articulate than were their contemporaries in the works group. A typical position, outlined by Vera Butcher contrasted the idealism of socialism set against the realities ol 'the real wurld’.

" 1 suppose I've more or less always thought Labour, 1 suppose 1 always will, but I don't like it too far left, I don't like the initiative being taken out of people's homes, you know, and too much Welfare State H I think it's lovely that there's no children as I saw them when I was younger without proper clothes, you know, and things like that, but 1 do think too much help can be a bit...stops people wanting to struggle a little bit, if you like."

Doreen iiolroyd too, made some interesting observations:

" 1 can remember the bad old days, and how hard my dad worked.. . um. . . we were given a chance and my girls got to university. I've always been a low paid worker, even though we've moved up. I think there's too many people who can't work hard like we had to...er.. . all this Welfare State. .. I don't know. I want Labour but I don't want this lot especially Benn, he's a loony and Scargiil's gone overboard t j 1 mean the miners are like us, they've got videos, 'phones and colour T.V.'s, we expect that now, holidays abroad and that...so we're still working class but we've moved up, do you know what 1 mean?"

There is amongst this group a much stronger ideology of

individualism. The 'move up', has brought in its wake a somewhat

confused self def inition of class position I status dissension] and political consciousness, reflected in the division perceived between socialist ideals and a perceived lack of hard work and individual initiative, which clearly was important to these men and women. Given an even more marginal attitude towards socialist collectivism, it is unsurprising that 'politics' was once again seen as something 'out there' and not oi thematic, motivational or interpretational relevancy, in family life.

Even in the works group, political activities played a largely

peripheral role in life, even for those with shop steward

responsibilities. Even at times when one might have expected

collectivist political responses, for example during the rundown of B.S.C., this did not occur. Only on rare occasions, such as the brief

1981.strike did concerted collective industrial action take place, and then only ior a limited period.

These generally privatised world views are echoed in their

religious beliefs, which accord closely with the findings of

sociologists over the last thirty years: that is, a secularisation of

religious beliefs and practices. Everyone in these groups attended

church and had some religious education as children. However, as they moved through the life course and dropped out of orthodox frameworks of religious practice Leg regular church attendance] whilst all, bar Bert Gregory, professed a belief in 'something else' and all had their children baptised, none have seen it necessary to attend church on a regular basis. In ail cases, orthodox religion, save for significant events in the life course such as marriages or bereavement, has become a peripheral concern, with little relevance to day to day life. Religious beliefs in this group accord closely with the 'grey area' of religiousity described by Luckmann, Berger, and others, in recent years.

Edward Philips' account was a typical example of religiosity

amongst the men:

" I do believe that there is something in religion - as a kid 1 used to go to Sunday School and Church - I dropped off during the war. Cj...if people lived D y the teaching of religion it would be a better world. The other thing that sort of makes me feel that there's got to be something else I don't believe you just die for example - there's too much lost if you just die, there's got to be something after, now what that is 1 have no idea, I don't think you just die and that's the end of it all, I think there's got to be some t h i ng else."

Interestingly, several of the women in both groups, professed to having mystical or spiritual experiences, Ann Philips :

" I've had one or two experiences actually. 1 mean when Ted's father died, it was quite a horrible experience really, I were sat down here and, although there were no wind or anything and!3 I was sat at t'side of his box where he used to keep his things,t] I heard this rustling, really plain and that, something touched me on my face and course I were kicking Ted, he were in the chair opposite, I were really scared that night [3 Ted couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything and funnily enough his mum said to him next morning, she said 'don't tell Ann, but I saw your father last night' and 1 didn't get to know this while years after actually, he never told me. "

A more typical account of the day to day significance of religion was given by Dorothy Watson:

" I don't go to church on Sundays but 1 don't discount it as a belief, I think that's a very personal thing, but 1 have been to church and I was confirmed in church and 1 was married in church. I believe there's something there, and I think it's up to individuals to find it for themselves, and I wouldn't...1 wouldn't like to think that people don't have some sort of faith 13 I think it's a very private thing."

As with political beliefs, religion has become, over the life course a peripheral and essentially private concern, playing only a minimal role in day to day life. Political activities have been restricted to

discussion and a vote every few years at national and iocai elections. Prior to 1981,none oi the men or women in the staff group had been out of work on strike and only two of the men in the works group had been involved in industrial disputes.

CHAPTER 10