When Neil Kinnock assumed leadership of the Labour Party in 1983, he inherited a divided organization, saddled with an array of unpopular left-wing policies. When he resigned in 1992, Labour was a radically different party, tightly organized and committed to working within the frame-work of a privately-owned market economy.The Labour Party Since 1979narrates the Labour Party's struggle to survive during its turbulent years in opposition. It charts the internal strife of the 1980s, the transformation of Labour's structure, the strategies of Neil Kinnock, and the party's rise to a position at the brink of power in 1992. Eric Shaw presents the first systematic analysis of the evolution and modernization of the Labour Party during the 1980s and up to the present day. He looks at how and why the shift to the political middle ground occurred, analyzing such key events as the miners' strike and the 1987 Policy Review. He argues that the disavowal of kew social democratic policieshas rendered Labour bereft of clear purpose and that its drive for moderation is a flawed and ill-thought out effort to seize electoral power.