‘Wilful Blindness’: Effects and Perceptions of New Labour’s Party Management

Abstract

This article shows how Lewis Minkin’s specific approach meticulously unpicks the mechanisms of party management to reveal the vulnerabilities of New Labour’s managerial culture and behaviour. Minkin breaks new ground in our understanding of organisational change and offers a better grasp of the dialectic between organisational culture and party reputation. The first section of the article presents the main counterproductive effects of the New Labour managers’ ‘rolling coup’ on the project it was supposed to sustain, with detrimental effects on intra-party democracy and organisational vitality. The second section highlights some of the main external misconceptions about the party and about the impact of the reforms by analysing the effect of party management on perceptions of New Labour and of Tony Blair, both in the United Kingdom and abroad (in France in particular), exploring the paradox of Blair’s standing abroad as a model to emulate, despite being described at home as ‘the most reviled former prime minister since 1945’. The conclusion draws out lessons from Blair’s management style – and eventual downfall – for star-struck foreign politicians and commentators.