Extract
Introduction
The internal structures of the Labour Party are said in analytical accounts by advocates of New Labour to have been brought up-to-date and made more democratic. Whereas, alterations in policy positions have been considered at some length, changes in the party’s internal structures have been afforded less space.  Many are content merely to such phrases as ‘control freak’, but this does not coincide with Blair’s stated aims of increased democracy.
This paper seeks to describe the changes that have been made to the internal structures of the Labour Party.  Particular emphasis is placed upon the reforms carried out under Blair.  These have been justified on the basis of claims of increased participation for the party membership.  However, attention will also be given over to reforms made by Neil Kinnock and John Smith as these helped to lay the foundations of the Blair Labour Party.  Since the advent of New Labour, which can be said to have begun ether with the election of Neil Kinnock or Tony Blair as leader, there have been a large number of internal reforms.  These have centralised power in the hands of the parliamentary elite and, arguably, further towards the leader of the party.
PSA Annual Conference, 1999