By Scott Cresswell Since 1906, Labour has had 19-elected/permanent leaders. Six of those went on to become Prime Minister. Remarkably for a political party that started at the dawn of the 20th Century, it first experienced power during the First World War, before it formed its first government in 1924, and won a landslide victory... Continue Reading →

Twenty years ago, the Conservative Party was at its lowest ebb. But on the night of New Labour’s greatest triumph, one man promised to revive their fortunes…  As the sunset on eighteen years of Conservative rule in May 1997, Tony Blair had already set his sights on his next task. His primary focus was to... Continue Reading →

Taking an opposition party into government is a rare feat in British politics. At the 1979 General Election, the first-time voters who witnessed Mrs Thatcher take power are now in their sixties. In the intervening period those voters have seen the government change hands just twice. Keir Starmer is the latest in a long line... Continue Reading →

Review by Tom Chidwick Having been in government for thirty-two out of the last one hundred years, the Labour Party occupies more than its fair share of the pews in the pantheon of unjustly forgotten parliamentarians of the previous century. From ILP stalwarts George Barnes and John Wheatley to devolutionist Scots of the Seventies John... Continue Reading →

As Super League celebrates its 25th birthday, rugby league is further away from its founder’s vision than ever. As Britain approached the end of the 1970s there was much talk about the “managed decline” of a once-great powerhouse. As debts spiralled out of control and the creditors came knocking at the door, the future looked... Continue Reading →

“Austerity is repealed for a day as Britons swarm to the pubs” The story of 1966 – the last time England were in a major a final Harold Wilson launched the tournament at a meeting of FIFA in London and claimed England had a good chance of winning.  “England are playing together as a team.... Continue Reading →

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 →

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 →