Scott Cresswell begins a new series looking at the relationship between Labour leaders and the monarchy Destiny is a strange force. Sometimes, politicians and leaders rise through the ranks to power as if they were created both ambitious and hungry for it. For others, power is an accidental gift. Both King George Vi and Clement … Continue reading Labour and the Monarch: Clement Attlee and King George VI
Guest Writers
1992 at 30: What if Kinnock had won it?
All general elections produce their winners and losers. Landslide victories are often remembered for their scale and become personal vindications for Prime Ministers. As we reach the 30th anniversary of the 1992 election @scottcresswell1 wonders whether this was one that Labour were glad to lose... Whether it be Attlee in 1945, Thatcher in 1983, or … Continue reading 1992 at 30: What if Kinnock had won it?
Warren’s Reflections: Life as a Labour Organiser in Thatcher’s Britain
By David Warren It was the Winter of 1981. And with Margaret Thatcher's premiership on the ropes, I arrived in the town of Newbury. I was seventeen, unemployed and eager to change the world around me. So I joined the Labour Party and attended my first branch meeting in the Labour Club near the Railway … Continue reading Warren’s Reflections: Life as a Labour Organiser in Thatcher’s Britain
“I’ve ad enough of this, I ave”: Bevin, NATO and the Russian Threat
“Think Once, Think Twice”: Ernest Bevin and the Creation of NATO. By James A. S. Sunderland An expansionist Russia sweeps through Eastern Europe, a weary America - seemingly unwilling to shoulder heavy foreign military burdens - turns increasingly away from the international stage, and a small coterie on the left in Britain seek to defend … Continue reading “I’ve ad enough of this, I ave”: Bevin, NATO and the Russian Threat
How the Labour Party used History to win in 1997
25 years on from the landslide, a University of Warwick Undergraduate Research Support Scheme project supervised by Dr Simon Peplow and conducted by Will Barber Taylor has now been officially launched. On behalf of Will Barber Taylor The aim of the project was and is to explore the extent to which history influenced the Labour … Continue reading How the Labour Party used History to win in 1997
“The Lessons that Labour Must Learn” – Book Review: The British General Election of 2019
The British General Election of 2019 (Robert Ford, Tim Bale, Will Jennings and Paula Surridge) By Jay Jackson ‘The British General Election of 2019’ – edited by Rob Ford, Tim Bale, Will Jennings, and Paula Surridge is the latest in a series of 21 books stretching back to the epochal contest of 1945. The 2019 … Continue reading “The Lessons that Labour Must Learn” – Book Review: The British General Election of 2019
Born in the USA: Labour and the Special Relationship
The Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States may have been shaped by war, but the histories between the two countries and governments go deeper. @scottcresswell1 looks at how Labour have naviagted it over the years It’s the second day of August 1945. President of the United States of America Harry S. … Continue reading Born in the USA: Labour and the Special Relationship
Rock Bottom: What Can Labour Learn From Its Worst Defeat?
By Scott Cresswell Like every democratic political party around the globe, there are victories, and then there are defeats. Labour has had its fair share of the latter. There are some years of electoral disaster that Labour must never cease to remind itself of. 1983 and 2019 both spring to mind. None of them, however, … Continue reading Rock Bottom: What Can Labour Learn From Its Worst Defeat?
Tides of History 