Celebrating the centenary of the Parliamentary Labour Party, this fascinating book commemorates the twenty-nine founding Labour MPs elected in 1906, including Labour’s first Prime Minister, first Chancellor of the Exchequer, first Minister of Labour, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

    With a foreword by Tony Blair, Men Who Made Labour focuses on the pioneers’ origins, expectations, world vision and achievements in the context of early twentieth-century conditions, when the prospect of any Labour government was still a distant dream.

    Drawing upon a vast array of previously unpublished material, and with obituaries primarily written by the twenty-first century successors to those original MPs, the text provides a unique insight into how today’s politicians view their party’s past – ensuring that it is an excellent resource for all politics and modern history students, as well as general readers with an interest in the area.

    Foreword – Prime Minister.  Introduction  1. Labour’s Parliamentary Pioneers of 1906  2. 1906: The 29 Obituaries  3. Voice of the People: 50 Years of the PLP  4. Labour’s Early Days  5. First PLP Minutes.  Appendix: List of Chairmen and Secretaries of the PLP, 1906–2006

    Biography

    Haworth, Alan; Hayter, Dianne

    'A vivid portrait of the early PLP that deserves a wide readership beyond the ranks of the labour movement.' - Tribune

    'This is a story of men who left school at 12 years old and earned their living through hard manual work. It is about men who attended night school, read newspapers and attended debates on how to improve the conditions around them.' - The Big Issue