Atlas / Comparisons / Hamas vs UK Labour Party
Hamas and UK Labour Party
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on EC, SC. They diverge by eight points or more on CU, AU, ID, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Hamas | UK Labour Party | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | −02 | −03 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +09 | −05 | 14 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +09 | −03 | 12 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +04 | +03 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +09 | −05 | 14 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +08 | −08 | 16 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Hamas · CU +09
At the ceiling: religious authority over social life in the territory it governs.
- Documented act or statuteDress and conduct regulations were imposed in Gaza after 2007.
UK Labour Party · CU −05
Coded −5: liberal on social questions with recent qualification on gender recognition.
- Documented act or statuteIntroduced civil partnerships in 2004 and the Equality Act in 2010; equal marriage passed in 2013 with its support.
Hamas · AU +09
Coded +9: won an election and then held no other.
- Documented act or statuteWon the 2006 legislative election, seized sole control of Gaza by force in 2007, and held no election in the following seventeen years.
UK Labour Party · AU −03
Coded −3: constitutional in method with a centralising executive record in office.
- Documented act or statuteDevolution to Scotland, Wales and London was created by the 1997 government.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Hamas
1987– · Gaza, West Bank
Armed Palestinian nationalism in an Islamist frame, rejecting the negotiated framework in favour of resistance.
UK Labour Party
1900– · Britain
Growth first, public service investment, workers' rights, stability and fiscal credibility.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas