We do have an elective dictatorship. I myself used to believe in the mysteries of the British Constitution. My experience over the last ten to twelve years, like many people, has caused me to change my mind quite fundamentally on that
John Smith, responding after his Charter 88 speech ‘For a Citizen's Democracy’, 1 March 1993
Twenty-five years ago today, on 12th April 1994, the leader of the Labour Party died suddenly at home after a massive heart-attack. His party was 20 per cent in the lead in the opinion polls. He would undoubtedly have become Prime Minister had he lived. An exceptionally able Scottish barrister, he had been a junior minister in the Callaghan government and oversaw the legislation in 1978 that was the first attempt to create a Scottish parliament. He then became Secretary of State for Trade. A pro-European, on the centre-right of the party, he declared himself a friend of trade unions and refused to join the break-away SDP whom he saw as anti-working class. Instead, during the long years of opposition that followed 1979 he became a QC and developed a devastating and forensic style in House of Commons debates. Promoted to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer he was the obvious successor to Neil Kinnock after Labour lost the 1992 election. His name was John Smith.
Had he lived, the UK would certainly not have gone to war in Iraq and in all likelihood would now have a written constitution, thanks to the democratic reform process Smith had kick-started. It would also be a firmly European country… though probably governed by a Conservative.
But instead we are living in the long-aftermath of frustration, unable either to fulfil or undo the process Smith began. I played a small part in this process myself, when soon after becoming Labour leader Smith gave a speech hosted by Charter 88 - which I headed at the time. Smith intended it to be a turning point and it was. It transformed Labour from a constitutionally conservative party into a radical, reformist one.
