Description
'A meticulously researched and balanced history' The Times
'Highly-readable and well-researched' The Sunday Times
'Faultless account of the twists and turns undertaken by the hard left of the Labour Party to retain relevance and the hope of power' James O'Brien, TLS
'A very good book, probably the most even-handed of all the accounts of Corbyn's rise to power' Guardian
'Timely new book about Labour' Independent
The battle for the Labour party is dramatic and intense. This is its definitive history.
Labour has shifted from the New Left, to New Labour, to Corbynista Labour. Now, it may see power again with a most unlikely group of activists from the 1970s becoming the fourth generation to win power since 1945.
Only Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair have won power from a sitting Conservative government. Of the ten general elections since 1979, Labour has won three, all under Blair. This record of failure, if applied to any other walk of life, would raise the fundamental question of why continue to fight a losing battle? For Labour, it asks whether it is a party of protest – designed only to be a voice from opposition, commenting on the flaws and falsities of Conservative police – or a party of power?
Including exclusive interviews with key party members from the 1970s to today including Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair, Ed Miliband and Jon Lansman; and the party's recent struggles with antisemitism and Brexit, this book chronicles the conflicts within the Labour party, the schisms between ideologues and pragmatists, and how these fissures seem destined to keep Labour in opposition.
Table of Contents
Interviewees 1981 and 2018
Abbreviations
Part One: Protest; the Rise and Fall of the New Left
1. Vladimir's Plan
2. The Years that Changed Everything
3. The High-Water Mark – The Benn Campaign and its Aftermath
4. The Reaction and the Response
Part Two: The Counter-revolution
5. The Dream Team
6. The Wilderness Years Begin
Part Three: Power; the New Labour Revolution
7. The New Generation
8. New Labour Takes Control
Part Four: New Labour; the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
9. What was New Labour?
10. The Good
11. The Bad and the Ugly
12. Conflict
13. Opposition – The Left, the Unions and the Media
14. The Beginning of the End
15. Gordon Brown – The End of New Labour
16. Judging New Labour
Part Five: The Miliband Interregnum; Between Power and Protest
17. The Last Electoral College
18. Where are the Milibandites?
19. Falkirk and Collins
20. The Road to 2015
21. The 2015 General Election
Part Six: The Four Summers of Jeremy Corbyn; the Summer of Love
22. The Establishment
23. The Insurgents
24. Throwing it Away
Part Seven: The Four Summers of Jeremy Corbyn; the Summer of Redemption
25. From Swarm to Momentum
26. Learning on the Job
27. The Referendum
28. The Chicken Coup
29. The Importance of 2016
Part Eight: The Four Summers of Jeremy Corbyn; the Summer of Fun
30. The Apotheosis – The 2017 General Election
31. Consolidation
Part Nine: The Four Summers of Jeremy Corbyn; the Long, Hot Summer
32. The Baggage of the Past
33. The Dialogue of the Deaf
34. The Wheel Turns
Part Ten: Brexit and Beyond
35. The Shadow of Brexit
36. The Fault Lines Exposed
37. Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Index
Product details
| Published | Apr 18 2019 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 448 |
| ISBN | 9781448217298 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Reader |
| Illustrations | 8pp colour plate section |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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