Labour Party
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[edit] Current power
It was last in power as the governing party of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2010, with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown serving as Prime Minister. Their 1997 victory was famous as a landslide, ousting the Conservative Party from a considerable reign that stretched back to 1979. The Labour majority was substantially reduced over the course of the 2001 and 2005 elections.
Labour performed poorly in the 2010 General Election, and David Cameron of the Conservative Party is now the Prime Minister. However, it didn't do that poorly, and thus the Conservative Party was forced into a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats to get its majority above 50%. Labour negotiations with the Lib Dems for a coalition led to nothing, with Labour less willing to compromise on their policies and even a rainbow coalition of every single MP other than the Conservatives still being insufficient to form a majority. As a result, a Liberal-Conservative alliance was formed (without the involvement of Glenn Beck) based around some common views around civil liberties and the fact that the Lib Dems would, in theory, be allowed to temper some of the more right-wing Tory economic policies.
Labour has 218 seats in the House of Lords, 257 seats in the House of Commons, and 20 seats in the European Parliament. It is traditionally the main left-wing British party, although it has moved to the centre and even the centre-right in recent years. It is currently led by Ed Miliband after an election battle with his brother, David Miliband.