Leading Labour: From Keir Hardie to Tony Blair Book

The year 2000 sees the Labour Party celebrate its centenary, and it does so in office. From two MPs in 1900, at the close of the century it has the largest parliamentary majority since its inception, giving it a freedom to legislate that it hasn't enjoyed since 1945. Its life has been as turbulent as any centenarian's, involving 12 leaders (and one stand-in, Margaret Beckett, after the death of John Smith). So how did the fuel of leadership passed from almost obligatory working-class roots and card-carrying trade unionism to a mindset that led Tony Blair to say proudly, "I wasn't born into this party, I chose it"?"I know that the right kind of leader for the Labour Party is a desiccated calculating machine who must not in any way permit himself to be swayed by indignation". Thankfully Aneurin Bevan's recipe was rarely met, and Leading Labour consists of an essay on each of this disparate dozen who met the challenge, written by a clutch of senior British modern historians and political writers. Each vignette directly addresses each man's inheritance within the Party structure, and provides a concise analysis of their tenure, usually culminating in a page or so of conclusion and useful suggestions for further reading. Perhaps the best written and most enjoyable is Robert Pearce's critique of Clement Atlee, the great manager of men, while less recognisable figures such as George Lansbury and Hugh Gaitskell receive honourable airings. Atlee is indeed the fulcrum of the book; those who preceded him tend to wear a "historical" air, while those after are increasingly too recent history for true evaluation. However, most of the portraits make a decent fist of bringing something new to their subject, and are rightly sympathetic to what has often been an insufferable and thankless job. There have been commendable full-length biographies written of most (David Marquand's Ramsay Macdonald, Ben Pimlott's Harold Wilson or John Rentoul's Tony Blair), but this lively collection serves as a concise introduction to all, and is a commendable addition to the burgeoning library of writing on the Labour Party. --David VincentRead More