BY PAUL RICHARDS The leafy lanes and pretty Chiltern villages surrounding Chesham and Amersham are not immediately redolent of Labour history. Swan Bottom is a long way from Clydeside, and Cholesbury is no Tolpuddle. Yet growing up in the area, I was always fascinated by the stories of three Labour titans who were drawn to… Continue reading Three Lights Shining in Buckinghamshire
Author: Anthony Broxton
Back to School: Labour and the Great Education Debate
The Great Debate about education is a fascinating episode, both in the context of James Callaghan's Premiership and the ongoing argument about the purpose and practice of education. BY MARK WILLIAMS The Great Debate can be seen as a sequence of events, running from late 1976 to 1977. The critical moment was Callaghan's high-profile speech… Continue reading Back to School: Labour and the Great Education Debate
Maureen Colquhoun (1928-2021): “My sexuality has nothing to do with my ability to do the job”
In the 1970s, the Daily Mail “outed” Maureen Colquhoun – making her the first openly lesbian MP in British political history. But she wasn’t accepted in society so easily. Maureen Colquhoun was born on 12 August 1928 and joined the Labour Party aged 18 She read for a degree in Economics at the LSE before… Continue reading Maureen Colquhoun (1928-2021): “My sexuality has nothing to do with my ability to do the job”
Class Matters: Why Rugby League Players Don’t Receive Knighthoods
Despite a mass public campaign, Kevin Sinfield hasn’t received a knighthood this year. It comes as no surprise to rugby league fans In the final PMQs before the Christmas break, Boris Johnson was urged by a fellow MP to acknowledge former rugby league star Kevin Sinfield’s heroic efforts. Sinfield had just completed seven marathons in… Continue reading Class Matters: Why Rugby League Players Don’t Receive Knighthoods
1997 Election: “Was It Delboy Wot Won It?”
“WAS IT DELBOY WOT WON IT?” Its Christmas 1996 and Labour are 36pts clear in the polls. With the Tories in disarray, the Major Government clutches at one final straw. They think Only Fools and Horses might cost them some votes... Christmas 1996 and the nation is anticipating the final Only Fools and Horses trilogy.… Continue reading 1997 Election: “Was It Delboy Wot Won It?”
James Callaghan: The Crisis PM
A new collection of essays provides a welcome reappraisal of the only man to hold all four offices of state. “If you must have a Conservative Prime Minister, I’m your man” – Sunday Mirror, April 1979 At the end of season three of Netflix’s The Crown viewers watched a tearful Harold Wilson hand in his resignation.… Continue reading James Callaghan: The Crisis PM
The Nation’s Favourite: Why Coronation Street Matters
As Coronation Street celebrates its diamond jubilee, is it time to take it seriously as the chronicler of our times? On 9 December 1960, workers across the country clocked off after a week’s toil on the factories, steel plants and coal mines that made up much of heavy-industrialised Britain. With their wage packets, many would… Continue reading The Nation’s Favourite: Why Coronation Street Matters
What Spitting Image did to British politics
As Spitting Image returns to our screens, its original impact has not been forgotten It’s February 1984 and English television is still ruled by just four stations. Regular political programming consists of the evening news, Panorama and a new debate show called Question Time, while television cameras are not yet allowed into the House of… Continue reading What Spitting Image did to British politics
