The policies of the British political parties towards crime victims are ill-formed and in a continual state of flux. The parameters of the policies, however, may be defined against the background of wider political imperatives and ideologies. For the Conservative Party, criminal victimizaiton and victim services will continue to be viewed as an issue to be addressed through criminal justice policy alone. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the Conservative Party's primary commitment to a repressive and offender-centered system will ensure that victim issues are addressed, at best, as marginal and peripheral. For the Labour Party, crime-victim issues tend to be addressed through a combination of social and criminal justice measures. Labour's policies thus appear to offer the best hope that victim services can be expanded beyond the restricted provision now offered to meet the total needs of all crime victims. 5 notes.