The Labour Party Since 1945 (British History in Perspective)

What caused the 'strange death of Labour Britain'? Why did the party that swept to power in 1945 - and governed for half of the following twenty-five years - falter so badly in the 1970s and 1980s? This question has preoccupied the many historians, social scientists and political commentators who have written about Labour since the Second World War.In this book the author sets out to weigh up the conflicting arguments. He assesses how far the party's electoral decline was due to deep-rooted forces such as post-war affluence and the erosion of traditional class barriers. He also considers the notion that Labour's difficulties were primarily self-inflicted, the product of bitter internal feuding and failures of leadership associated with Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan and Michael Foot.In addition to electoral politics, the book takes a broader look at the interaction of policy, ideology and organisation in Labour's history. What were the main successes and failings of the Labour governments under Attlee, Wilson and Callaghan? How far did revisionism really triumph over socialist fundamentalism in determining Labour's agenda? And to what extent did Neil Kinnock's leadership in the 1980s produce a genuinely reformed party? By drawing together these themes, the author provides a wide-ranging introductory the first historical overview of the Labour party to span the whole period between the victory of 1945 and the election defeat of 1992.