The Political Ideology of Labour Councillors

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Abstract
Studies of local politics in the UK have paid increasing attention to policy-making but have virtually ignored the role of ‘ideology’. This is rather unfortunate since the literature abounds with the implicit assumption that it has a part to play. The majority of studies have examined the political attitudes of party activists in terms of partisan attachment and social class. Forms of political leadership and their impact upon decision-making have also been examined in terms of community values. Building upon the American literature policy output studies have identified partisanship as being of importance while several other writers have attached different values to the role types found on local councils. Finally, John Dearlove has used ‘ideology’ in a rather restrictive fashion as the ‘proper scope of government’ to explain policy-making in Kensington and Chelsea. The absence of any serious consideration given to political ideology may be due to several reasons. In the first place the characterization of local government as being highly centralized by some writers would deny local political ideology any meaningful role. Secondly, the view held by some practitioners and academics that local services provision is over and above party politics.

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