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A review by unisonlibrarian
A Party with Socialists in It: A History of the Labour Left by Simon Hannah
5.0
There have been many histories of the Labour Party; Keith Laybourn, Brian Brivati, Andrew Thorpe and Henry Pelling to name a few. This appears to be the first (or the first for quite some time) to focus on the Labour Party purely from the left wing angle and attempts to set the historic framework for the current leadership which is probably the most progressive in the party’s history, in the context of a post-Thatcherite local and post-Soviet global politics.
It is a fairly short book to focus on such a large period of history, and indeed such large personalities therein, so for those wanting more insight into what drove Ellen Wilkinson or what galvanised Nye Bevan they would be better off reading direct biographies of their targets. This is very broad brush and looks at how the left have consistently been marginalised by party and governmental machinery, how Labour looks outward and more progressive in opposition, but suddenly looks inward and conforms to establishment norms when in power. The lack of depth on certain key moments is my only real criticism of the book, but once the reader is aware of them, they can be researched more thoroughly elsewhere. Also, the author tires quickly of the early history of the party where much of the political philosophies going forward were enshrined; this is clearly the book of a political activist as opposed to historian.
Very few party leaders are praised (with the exception of Clement Attlee, with qualifications), with the right of the party usually in control of the major seats of power, from the leader himself (always a him) to NEC members and trade union general secretaries; only recently have trade unions had leaders moved somewhat to the left of their general membership with notable past exceptions, and have often been in conflict with the left of the Labour Party due to naked self-interest at times, and at others a narrow but well intentioned view on what is best for their members in the short term – this latter point is nothing new, Len McCluskey may be a died in the wool socialist but UNITE represent members working in the nuclear industry and will block any moves to abolish Trident.
The book maintains a quick pace throughout and Hannah seems in his element when speaking of the splits in the 1970s and 80s. He breaks some sacred myths here about the IMF loan, Militant Tendency and the so-called “longest suicide note in history”; all these things have become millstones tied to the neck of the Labour left, unfairly in Hannah’s view and he explains why with great clarity and shows up the timidity of the late 80s / early 90s Labour leadership with passion, reserving full scorn for those in the party who refused to back the miners, dockers and printworkers in their various strike actions, which we know now (and some knew at the time) was part of a larger assault on workers’ rights under Thatcher and Major.
Moving forward, he details how left wing members of the party were deselected or not put forward for potential seats under John Smith briefly and Tony Blair more permanently. Here we see the centralisation of the party machine under Blair and his policy unit. How Party Conference was subdued and deliberately undermined to keep power within the grasp of the leadership and his cabal.
We finish of course chronologically with the defeat of 2015, with some sympathy for Ed Miliband who should have been given far more freedom to be himself, and the movement that gathered behind Jeremy Corbyn who was entered on to the leadership election ticket as a sop to the left but quickly grabbed the attention with his unfailingly human and compassionate responses to questions in debates.
Obviously this book is partial, as all political books are and indeed all histories of the Labour Party. Hannah clearly is a Corbyn supporter along with a huge number of other people and has become party of the army of dedicated activists pushing for a Labour government with a socialist face. However, despite his (twice made) democratic mandate there is a warning here that the right of the party are ideologically opposed to the politics of Jeremy Corbyn and the vast majority of members, they will come again in another coup attempt before long and those of us wanting to continue this project must be ready.
It is a vital read for anyone engaging with politics for the first time, particularly in Momentum or other Corbyn supporting movements to see how we got here, and to show them that they have the fight of their lives on their hand if they want to see a democratically elected socialist leader in this country.
It is a fairly short book to focus on such a large period of history, and indeed such large personalities therein, so for those wanting more insight into what drove Ellen Wilkinson or what galvanised Nye Bevan they would be better off reading direct biographies of their targets. This is very broad brush and looks at how the left have consistently been marginalised by party and governmental machinery, how Labour looks outward and more progressive in opposition, but suddenly looks inward and conforms to establishment norms when in power. The lack of depth on certain key moments is my only real criticism of the book, but once the reader is aware of them, they can be researched more thoroughly elsewhere. Also, the author tires quickly of the early history of the party where much of the political philosophies going forward were enshrined; this is clearly the book of a political activist as opposed to historian.
Very few party leaders are praised (with the exception of Clement Attlee, with qualifications), with the right of the party usually in control of the major seats of power, from the leader himself (always a him) to NEC members and trade union general secretaries; only recently have trade unions had leaders moved somewhat to the left of their general membership with notable past exceptions, and have often been in conflict with the left of the Labour Party due to naked self-interest at times, and at others a narrow but well intentioned view on what is best for their members in the short term – this latter point is nothing new, Len McCluskey may be a died in the wool socialist but UNITE represent members working in the nuclear industry and will block any moves to abolish Trident.
The book maintains a quick pace throughout and Hannah seems in his element when speaking of the splits in the 1970s and 80s. He breaks some sacred myths here about the IMF loan, Militant Tendency and the so-called “longest suicide note in history”; all these things have become millstones tied to the neck of the Labour left, unfairly in Hannah’s view and he explains why with great clarity and shows up the timidity of the late 80s / early 90s Labour leadership with passion, reserving full scorn for those in the party who refused to back the miners, dockers and printworkers in their various strike actions, which we know now (and some knew at the time) was part of a larger assault on workers’ rights under Thatcher and Major.
Moving forward, he details how left wing members of the party were deselected or not put forward for potential seats under John Smith briefly and Tony Blair more permanently. Here we see the centralisation of the party machine under Blair and his policy unit. How Party Conference was subdued and deliberately undermined to keep power within the grasp of the leadership and his cabal.
We finish of course chronologically with the defeat of 2015, with some sympathy for Ed Miliband who should have been given far more freedom to be himself, and the movement that gathered behind Jeremy Corbyn who was entered on to the leadership election ticket as a sop to the left but quickly grabbed the attention with his unfailingly human and compassionate responses to questions in debates.
Obviously this book is partial, as all political books are and indeed all histories of the Labour Party. Hannah clearly is a Corbyn supporter along with a huge number of other people and has become party of the army of dedicated activists pushing for a Labour government with a socialist face. However, despite his (twice made) democratic mandate there is a warning here that the right of the party are ideologically opposed to the politics of Jeremy Corbyn and the vast majority of members, they will come again in another coup attempt before long and those of us wanting to continue this project must be ready.
It is a vital read for anyone engaging with politics for the first time, particularly in Momentum or other Corbyn supporting movements to see how we got here, and to show them that they have the fight of their lives on their hand if they want to see a democratically elected socialist leader in this country.