>Well, as (Sir) Alan Walters said, Thatcher's most lasting achievement was
>the transformation of the Labour Party. What *does* have a special hold
>over the British working class in 1999?
Yes, I agree with Walters. Especially since all of the other things that looked like achievements, strong economy, individual freedom etc have turned out to be the opposite of what they were billed as.
Your question though is a pretty difficult one. Not that much, I would say. Anxiety about the future is the most influential mood. But that is so amorphous that nobody really manages to ride it, without losing control of it.
Pensions, health, education - all the things that relate to personal insecurity are big issues here. But none all that exciting.
Even Blair's support is not as solid as it appears. But since you find it hard to credit that anyone does like him in the first place, I'm not sure that I can explain why they do but they don't really.
-- Jim heartfield