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A Short History of the Labour Party

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A Short History of the Labour Party A SHORT HISTORY OF THE LABOUR PARTY By the same autlwr THE ORIGINS OF THE LABOUR PARIT THE CHALLENGE OF SOCIALISM AMERICA AND THE BRITISH LEFT LABOUR AND POLITICS, 1900-1906 (with Frank Bealey) THE BRITISH COMMUNIST PARIT MODERN BRITAIN, 1885-1955 AMERICAN LABOR A HISTORY OF BRITISH TRADE UNIONISM SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF BRITISH ELECTIONS, 1895-1910 POPULAR POLITICS AND SOCIEIT IN LATE VICTORIAN BRITAIN BRITAIN AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR WINSTON CHURCHILL THE LABOUR GOVERNMENTS, 1945-1951 BRITAIN AND THE MARSHALL PLAN A SHORT HISTORY OF THE LABOUR PARTY HENRY PELLI NG Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge TENTH EDITION 150th YEAR M St. Martin's Press © Henry Pelling 1961, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1991, 1993 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published in Great Britain 1961 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTO Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-333-59476-6 ISBN 978-1-349-23043-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-23043-3 Reprinted 1961 (twice), 1962; Second Edition 1965; Third Edition 1968; Fourth Edition 1972, Reprinted 1974; Fifth Edition 1976; Sixth Edition 1978; Seventh Edition 1982, Reprinted 1983; Eighth Edition 1985, Reprinted 1986, 1989; Ninth Edition 1991, Reprinted 1992; Tenth Edition 1993 First published in the United States of America 1972 by Scholarly and Reference Division, ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-09676-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pelling, Henry. A short history of the labour party / Henry Pelling - 10th ed. p. cm. Incl udes index. ISBN 978-0-312-09676-2 I. Labour Party (Great Britain)-History. I. Title. JNI129.L32P42 1993 324.24107---dc20 93-16705 CIP CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii I. THE NEW PARTY: IDEAL AND REALITY (to 1906) II. A PRESSURE-GROUP UNDER PRESSURE (1906-14) 18 III. HENDERSON'S PARTY: WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION (19 14-22) 35 IV. THE MACDoNALD LEADERSHIP (1922-31) 52 V. CONVALESCENCE: THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S PARTY (193 1-40) VI. OFFICE AND POWER UNDER ATTLEE AND BEVIN (1940-50) 88 VII. DISSENSION AND DECLINE (1950-60) 105 VIII. THE ROAD BACK TO POWER (1960-66) 124 IX. WILSON AND THE VICISSITUDES OF ECONOMIC INSOLVENCY (1966-70) 139 X. THE COMMON MARKET AND THE SOCIAL CONTRACT (1970-79) 153 XI. THE S.D.P. SECESSION AND THE DREAM TICKET ( 1979-84) 175 XII. REVIVAL UNDER KINNOCK (1985-92) 189 XIII. CONCLUSION: THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 202 ApPENDIX A: PARTY MEMBERSHIP 206 B: GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS 209 C: CHAIRMEN AND LEADERS OF THE 210 PARLIAMENTARY PARTY D: PARTY SECRETARIES 210 INDEX 2II v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE I. Keir Hardie 24 2. Ramsay MacDonald 25 3· Arthur Henderson 56 4· George Lansbury 57 5· Clement Attlee 88 6. Ernest Bevin 8g 7. Aneurin Bevan and Hugh Gaitskell 120 8. James Callaghan and Harold Wilson 121 g. Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock 179 10. John Smith Ig8 The photographs of Arthur Henderson and Aneurin Bevan and Hugh Gaitskell are by the Daily H",a/d. That ofJames Callaghan and Harold Wilson is Crown Copyright. That of Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock is reproduced by permission of the The Times. That ofJohn Smith is reproduced by permission of the Independent The others are from the B.B.C. Hulton Picture Library. Vll .
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