This popular study covers two major topics: the formation of the Labour Party and its emergence as the main rival to the conservatives. This transformation of the British political scene has been accounted for in a variety of ways. Dr Adelman examines these explanations and concludes that while there is a consensus about the reasons for the creation of the Labour Party there is no agreement about why it rose to such prominence.
This pamphlet examines the principal developments of party organization, electoral growth and policy-making in the period. It gives particular attention to the constituent elements that made up the party and the nature of its support and explores the party's predominant attitudes, ideology and policies from 1900 to 1931.
The Rise of the Labour Party 1893-1931provides a brief history of the Labour Party, from its foundation to the collapse of the second Labour government during the financial crisis of 1931. It is designed to introduce students to some of the trends and controversies in recent historical scholarship on this topic, and to examine the principal developments of party organization, electoral growth, and policy-making. Gordon Phillips gives particular emphasis to the question of Labour's search for popular support and the conditions prevailing at the birth of the Labour Representation Committee, which initiated the need to establish a political organization to represent labor. He examines the constituent elements which formed the party, how it survived the early years of crisis and difficulty to become first the opposition and then, briefly, the governing party. Finally, he explores the party's attitudes, ideology, and policies from 1900-1931. By bringing the central themes of the topic into sharp focus and highlighting recent trends and research, the book provides the reader with an accessible, stimulating and up-to-date interpretation of this important period in British history.
Britain’s first Labour government took office on 22 January 1924. Its centenary provides an opportunity to reassess the party's performance over the last 100 years, and with an election pending, the character and purpose of the modern party. Labour defined the dominant political settlement of much of the Twentieth Century: the welfare state. It has achieved much in pursuit of material change, social reform and equality. It has challenged patriarchy, racism and the legacy of imperialism, promoted human rights and delivered democratic and constitutional renewal. Yet any honest assessment must acknowledge a century littered with failures and missed opportunities. In this compelling book, Jon Cruddas, one of the country's foremost experts on Labour politics, details the vivid personalities and epic factional battles, the immense achievements and profound disappointments that define a century of Labour. Uniquely framed around competing visions of socialist justice within the Party, he provides a way to rethink Labour history, the divisions and factions on the left and to reassess key figures at the helm of the movement from Keir Hardie through to Keir Starmer.
