Britain Man in the Middle

Labor's leader eases his line

Neil Kinnock was a worried man as he mounted the podium in Blackpool last week. As the Labor Party met for its annual conference, the latest polls showed that only one voter in four expects it to form a government in the next ten years. He knew that once again his leadership was on trial.

The conference had started well enough for Kinnock. He easily defeated a left-wing attempt to replace him and won endorsement of a key policy document for reforming the party and making it electable again -- mainly by forsaking the goal of wholesale nationalizations. Then he delivered...

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