The new urban left in local government in Britain aimed to change the way in which local councils operate so that the users and providers of council services, along with the local community, could gain greater control over the development and provision of council services. This paper considers why the new urban left grew in local government in Britain. Drawing on a comparative case study of two Labour local authorities, one -Sheffield a new urban left council, the other Doncaster a traditional or right-wing Labour council, a number of explanations are advanced for the lack of progress in 'demo- cratization' in Sheffield City Council.
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