Report: Labour to re-brand in the autumn, thinking about dumping New Labour label

A friend of Coffee House flags up an interesting post on Labour Matters which reports that as part of its autumn re-launch Labour might drop its “new Labour for Britain” slogan and replace it with “Your Labour, Your Britain”. The thinking is that this would emphasise the ‘on your side’ fairness agenda that will underpin Brown’s attempt at an autumn fight-back. It also suggests that Labour is planning a more populist strategy in an attempt to try and stoke up its base which as recent elections have shown is thoroughly disillusioned with the party.

Dropping the ‘new Labour’ tag that Blair introduced would attract considerable comment. But Labour must be betting that it has got all it can out of the new Labour brand. Indeed, it has survived for long than most people expected. Back in 1997 in Blair’s 100 Days, Derek Draper—who is now back in Downing Street—was suggesting that new Labour would at some point re-brand itself as ‘Classic Labour.’