Interests, ideas and institutions: explaining immigration policy change in Britain, 1997-2010

Under the Labour governments of 1997–2010, Britain’s economic immigration policy was transformed from one of the most restrictive to one of the most liberal in Europe. This development was especially puzzling given the noted path dependence of immigration policy, as well as the absence of any public demand for liberalisation. Based on over 40 elite interviews coupled with document and archival analysis, the thesis sets out to explain why economic immigration policy changed so radically in Britain between 1997 and 2010 by examining how organised interests, political parties and the institutional context influenced policy and policy change. The thesis argues that policy change was a result of a combined set of favourable conditions. The overarching change in the policy framework was also not preconceived and the repercussions were not intended. The shift in policy framing was a consequence of an accumulation of policy reforms from different departments with different agendas. However, the logic and idea behind the policy reforms were fundamentally underpinned by the Labour Party’s third way framework, in particular the Party’s business-friendly approach and its fixation with globalisation. The thesis demonstrates that immigration policymaking in Britain is an elite-driven pursuit, that the institutional context is pertinent to explaining policy change and that parties, and the ideas which configure them, shape immigration policy.