1st Edition
New Labour's Pasts The Labour Party and Its Discontents
Introduction: New Labour and its Pasts. I. LABOUR'S AMBIGUOUS LEGACY. II. THE LABOUR PARTY, PLANNING AND GROWTH. III. INTERESTS,CONFLICT AND THE PARTY OF PROGRESS. IV. WILSON, HEATH AND BENN REMAKE THE LABOUR PARTY. V. THE OVERWHELMING BURDEN OF OFFICE, 1974-79. VI. DEFEAT, DIVISIONS AND DEFECTIONS, 1979-1983. VII. LABOUR IN THE SHADOW OF THATCHER, 1983-1987. VIII. ‘MODERNISE' AND LOSE 1987-1992. IX. THE FITFUL PROGRESS OF ‘NEW LABOUR’. X. ‘NEW LABOUR'S' MOMENT. XI. THE NEW LABOUR PROJECT IN PRACTICE. Postscript: Bournemouth 2003.
Biography
James E. Cronin
‘New Labour's Pasts is a major contribution to the history of 'new' Labour. Cronin's fine historical research and his well honed historical sensibility are deployed here to excellent effect. He provides an excellent account of the internal history of the Labour Party from the mid sixties as it struggled against the Thatcherite presence in national politics and the internecine struggles within its own ranks. He shows how it was those unhappy experiences forged the programs of 'new' Labour and steeled the determination of those like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to bring it to political victory. This book is a must read for anyone interested in contemporary British politics.’
Richard Price, University of Maryland, USA
'lucid, illuminating and well researched....persuasive chronological analysis of Labour since 1945'
The Political Quarterly
