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Servants Of The People: The Inside Story Of New Labour
Andrew Rawnsley's Servants of the People is a timely and fascinating look at New Labour. Every new government promises to represent a new dawn, but for New Labour it was the Covenant that Tony Blair made with Britain. The party that won a landslide victory on May Day 1997 made the special claim that it represented a decisive break with the disappointments of the old left and the old its Third Way would transcend both. Having fashioned an extraordinarily wide coalition to secure power, New Labour would hold it as Servants of the People. Was that a grandiloquent way of saying the government would be enslaved to the opinion polls? Or has Tony Blair been pursuing a strategic plan, breathtaking in its audacity, to remake the political landscape of Britain in the third millennium? 'Downing Street is said to be 'furious' at this book - and it is easy to understand why. It is the first meticulous chronicle of all that has happened since that bright May Day three years ago which first brought the Blair government to office' Anthony Howard, Sunday Times 'Riveting ... the Government's dirty washing has been well and truly hung out in public' Rachel Sylvester, Daily Telegraph Andrew Rawnsley is associate editor and chief political commentator for the Observer. For many years he presented BBC Radio 4's Sunday evening Westminster Hour, and he has also made a number of highly acclaimed television documentaries.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 28, 2024
rawnsley continues to go out of his way to phrase everything as homoerotically as possible, even the parts that aren't already homoerotic
July 28, 2024
Darkly funny insight into the trials and tribulations of the first term of New Labour. Mandleson a tragic figure, neither Blair nor Brown come out well. Campbell is an obvious model for Malcom Tucker.
May 18, 2023
I loved this book. Having worked in the UK civil service during Labour’s first term it was really interesting to learn just how much Brown and Blair loathed each other, and how some of the reforms happened (eg Scottish and Welsh devolution, abolition of the hereditary peers). Rawnsley has a lively, waspish style similar to his Observer columns. If he’s written books on the next two terms I can’t wait to read them.
September 29, 2018
Andrew Rawnsley does a superb job of covering the first term of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “New Labour,” starting with Blair’s landslide victory in 1997 (179 seat majority) and how a group of governmental neophytes got around to the job of forming a new government after years in the political wilderness. We get right to the love/hate relationship of Blair and Gordon Brown, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, his rival and ally. The Blair/Brown relationship dominates the book, as it should. That fabled relationship would likely be able to fill a book all by itself.
Rawnsley gives us some “inside baseball”(gossip) but does not neglect substance. He is not at all reluctant to criticize both Blair and “New Labour” for what he considers to be their shortcomings, but sticks in praise when he feels it warranted. Rawnsley was a skeptic on the so called “third way” politics espoused by Blair, not buying into Blair’s contention that centrist problem solving could produce government that delivers for people. What was Blair’s idea of the “third way?”
“My vision for the twenty-first century is of a popular politics reconciling themes which in the past have wrongly been regarded as antagonistic – patriotism and internationalism; rights and responsibilities; the promotion of enterprise and the attack on poverty and discrimination…”
Rawnsley, Andrew. Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour (pp. 311-312). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
We see today how Blair’s prescription has gone off the rails, with “patriotism” seen by so many as irreconcilable with “internationalism,” or globalism. We have heard that directly from Donald Trump at the United Nations in the last week. Rawnsley highlighted prominent critics of the Blair philosophy:
“The attempt at a united field theory of politics pretended that there were never any choices to be made between competing interests and contradictory values. But to govern is always to choose. The interests of business and the requirements of social justice were sometimes reconcilable, but they could also be mutually incompatible. It was a useless compass when confronted with a decision which did not permit of compromise. One of the most acute of liberal critics, the philosopher Ralf Dahrendorf, identified the Third Way as a politics that speaks of the need for hard choices but avoids them by trying to please everyone.”
Rawnsley, Andrew. Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour (p. 312). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
Blair’s heavy borrowing from Bill Clinton is highlighted. Blair was always considered a Clinton acolyte, and there is no doubt that New Labour took much of its political philosophy from the Clinton playbook.
“The apparent similarities with Bill Clinton, from whom New Labour had certainly looted much of its rhetoric, many of its techniques and some of its policies, also struck another American. Maureen Dowd accused Blair of ‘cloning himself from a clone’.”
Rawnsley, Andrew. Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour (pp. 5-6). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
Rawnsley was not only skeptical on the “third way” philosophy, but manages to weave into the narrative the constant charge that Blair, and New Labour, were more interested in media puffery and spin than on substance. His reference to the very skillful spinmeisters serving New Labour, and the frequent war between the media operations of Blair and Gordon Brown, are interesting and have a ring of truth. Without question Blair got caught up rather early in some party financial chicanery that did not reflect well on him (Ecclestone affair) as well as making a hash out of the Millennium Dome project, and those failures are highlighted prominently. Rawnsley is fair, and covers the achievements as well, including the Good Friday Agreement, the reform ceding interest rate power to the Bank of England, Blair’s determined and principled stand on Kosovo, and some of the progress made, through difficulty, on major domestic issues, like the National Health Service. As a precursor to the Brexit debate raging in Britain today the New Labour government faced the issue of whether to join the single European currency. That controversy, which Blair straddled on, lent some credence to the idea of spin over substance. But Blair was, like Theresa May today, faced with some pretty difficult cross currents to navigate. Blair’s heart was in Europe, but he could never muster the political strength to integrate into the Euro.
I do not agree with Rawnsley entirely on the issue of New Labour being all spin and no substance. Gordon Brown is recognized as having been a person of major substance as Chancellor, and Blair is without question brilliant and articulate. I had the opportunity to watch many segments of Prime Minister’s Questions with Blair fending off William Hague with relative ease. There were major achievements, and principled stands that may have cut against the political grain, (Kosovo) showing that Blair was not “substance free.” The book weaves together the full first term, and is an easy read, especially for those that enjoy government, and British politics.
Blair remains an interesting figure, both brilliant, and at times not so much. His idea that centrist politics would be predominant, that technocrats would find the “best” solutions to governmental issues of the day, has clearly collapsed, along with the political center. Might Blair himself be responsible for some of the wreckage of the “Third Way?” His decisions on British participation in the invasion of Iraq certainly played a role in his decline in popularity in future years, but that did not occur in his first term. He managed to win another landslide victory and become the first Labour Prime Minister to serve two full terms. What happened after the first term? I guess we will have to read Rawnsley’s “The End of the Party: The Rise and Fall of New Labour” to find out. I highly recommend this first installment.
Rawnsley gives us some “inside baseball”(gossip) but does not neglect substance. He is not at all reluctant to criticize both Blair and “New Labour” for what he considers to be their shortcomings, but sticks in praise when he feels it warranted. Rawnsley was a skeptic on the so called “third way” politics espoused by Blair, not buying into Blair’s contention that centrist problem solving could produce government that delivers for people. What was Blair’s idea of the “third way?”
“My vision for the twenty-first century is of a popular politics reconciling themes which in the past have wrongly been regarded as antagonistic – patriotism and internationalism; rights and responsibilities; the promotion of enterprise and the attack on poverty and discrimination…”
Rawnsley, Andrew. Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour (pp. 311-312). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
We see today how Blair’s prescription has gone off the rails, with “patriotism” seen by so many as irreconcilable with “internationalism,” or globalism. We have heard that directly from Donald Trump at the United Nations in the last week. Rawnsley highlighted prominent critics of the Blair philosophy:
“The attempt at a united field theory of politics pretended that there were never any choices to be made between competing interests and contradictory values. But to govern is always to choose. The interests of business and the requirements of social justice were sometimes reconcilable, but they could also be mutually incompatible. It was a useless compass when confronted with a decision which did not permit of compromise. One of the most acute of liberal critics, the philosopher Ralf Dahrendorf, identified the Third Way as a politics that speaks of the need for hard choices but avoids them by trying to please everyone.”
Rawnsley, Andrew. Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour (p. 312). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
Blair’s heavy borrowing from Bill Clinton is highlighted. Blair was always considered a Clinton acolyte, and there is no doubt that New Labour took much of its political philosophy from the Clinton playbook.
“The apparent similarities with Bill Clinton, from whom New Labour had certainly looted much of its rhetoric, many of its techniques and some of its policies, also struck another American. Maureen Dowd accused Blair of ‘cloning himself from a clone’.”
Rawnsley, Andrew. Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour (pp. 5-6). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
Rawnsley was not only skeptical on the “third way” philosophy, but manages to weave into the narrative the constant charge that Blair, and New Labour, were more interested in media puffery and spin than on substance. His reference to the very skillful spinmeisters serving New Labour, and the frequent war between the media operations of Blair and Gordon Brown, are interesting and have a ring of truth. Without question Blair got caught up rather early in some party financial chicanery that did not reflect well on him (Ecclestone affair) as well as making a hash out of the Millennium Dome project, and those failures are highlighted prominently. Rawnsley is fair, and covers the achievements as well, including the Good Friday Agreement, the reform ceding interest rate power to the Bank of England, Blair’s determined and principled stand on Kosovo, and some of the progress made, through difficulty, on major domestic issues, like the National Health Service. As a precursor to the Brexit debate raging in Britain today the New Labour government faced the issue of whether to join the single European currency. That controversy, which Blair straddled on, lent some credence to the idea of spin over substance. But Blair was, like Theresa May today, faced with some pretty difficult cross currents to navigate. Blair’s heart was in Europe, but he could never muster the political strength to integrate into the Euro.
I do not agree with Rawnsley entirely on the issue of New Labour being all spin and no substance. Gordon Brown is recognized as having been a person of major substance as Chancellor, and Blair is without question brilliant and articulate. I had the opportunity to watch many segments of Prime Minister’s Questions with Blair fending off William Hague with relative ease. There were major achievements, and principled stands that may have cut against the political grain, (Kosovo) showing that Blair was not “substance free.” The book weaves together the full first term, and is an easy read, especially for those that enjoy government, and British politics.
Blair remains an interesting figure, both brilliant, and at times not so much. His idea that centrist politics would be predominant, that technocrats would find the “best” solutions to governmental issues of the day, has clearly collapsed, along with the political center. Might Blair himself be responsible for some of the wreckage of the “Third Way?” His decisions on British participation in the invasion of Iraq certainly played a role in his decline in popularity in future years, but that did not occur in his first term. He managed to win another landslide victory and become the first Labour Prime Minister to serve two full terms. What happened after the first term? I guess we will have to read Rawnsley’s “The End of the Party: The Rise and Fall of New Labour” to find out. I highly recommend this first installment.
March 27, 2024
Written by somebody who I would expect to be more critical of a Labour Government than others may be I found it to be a good read for the most part.
Looking behind the scenes of what on the face of it was a very slick promotional type government who always seemed to be able to sell a story.
My own memory of the time as an elector was frustration at the slow pace of change after they came to power with an overwhelming majority in Parliament but reading this, it was obvious that they were hamstrung first by spending limits that had been self imposed and then a mortal fear that they would not win a second term in government.
The writing flows well and is easy to follow. It makes a political book quite accessible and isn’t filled with language regular people in the street wouldn’t understand.
I have the second book but I’ll give it a few months until I read that one!
Looking behind the scenes of what on the face of it was a very slick promotional type government who always seemed to be able to sell a story.
My own memory of the time as an elector was frustration at the slow pace of change after they came to power with an overwhelming majority in Parliament but reading this, it was obvious that they were hamstrung first by spending limits that had been self imposed and then a mortal fear that they would not win a second term in government.
The writing flows well and is easy to follow. It makes a political book quite accessible and isn’t filled with language regular people in the street wouldn’t understand.
I have the second book but I’ll give it a few months until I read that one!
August 2, 2020
Interesting insight into the early years of New Labour and the dynamic personalities that were responsible for both its successes and failures.
However, this book was written just before Blair’s second election victory and so does not cover his whole premiership, and misses some of his arguably more defining moments.
However, this book was written just before Blair’s second election victory and so does not cover his whole premiership, and misses some of his arguably more defining moments.
December 7, 2024
Really just tells you what happened. Endlessly fascinating if you love that sort of thing, probably no value in it if you don’t
November 26, 2017
Entertaining read, and excellent detail on the internal squabbles of the Labour Party. But the very trust from Labour Party members that gives him access such gossip means that he's sometimes reluctant to criticise the likes of Tony Blair. Other sources (e.g. Broken Vows, which despite it's right wing bias, makes some good points) suggest the man was grossly inadequate in many areas, governed from his "kitchen table" and was too focussed on spin and media manipulation, as opposed to actually doing a proper job and risking unpopular publicity.
September 14, 2017
This is metapolitics: a book which, amongst other things, attempts to document the New Labour culture of factions, rivalry, spin, briefing and counter briefing; and, having been written during the Blair Years, is itself a product of this culture. The majority of Rawnsley’s sources are ‘private’, and thus scores may be settled, axes can be ground, and faces saved. The reader is left to infer who is behind each biting remark – this is, admittedly, rather obvious in some cases. While it cannot be treated as gospel, the fact that Rawnsley was working on the ground, in the middle of things, makes it a useful source in trying to understand the period.
The workmanlike, insightful tone of Rawnsley’s Observer columns is stretched over 500 pages, sometimes rather too thinly. And yet he knows when to analyse and when to let the facts, and the actors, speak for themselves. Many of the chapters – Northern Ireland, Mandelson’s resignation, Kosovo, for example – unfurl with a breathless, filmic quality. These people were new to office, and they didn’t really know what they were doing. Blair is given his dues, but tends to come over as a fence sitter, too prone to public opinion. And Brown the more ideologically active, socially conscious, though sometimes sociopathic counterpart. Rawnsley deftly explores the delicious irony of a government elected by an unassailable majority and yet saddled by doubt, with key decisions made outside of Cabinet by a selected few. There is a definite sense of missed opportunity, in spite of the various successes that were brought. An interesting and thought provoking read.
The workmanlike, insightful tone of Rawnsley’s Observer columns is stretched over 500 pages, sometimes rather too thinly. And yet he knows when to analyse and when to let the facts, and the actors, speak for themselves. Many of the chapters – Northern Ireland, Mandelson’s resignation, Kosovo, for example – unfurl with a breathless, filmic quality. These people were new to office, and they didn’t really know what they were doing. Blair is given his dues, but tends to come over as a fence sitter, too prone to public opinion. And Brown the more ideologically active, socially conscious, though sometimes sociopathic counterpart. Rawnsley deftly explores the delicious irony of a government elected by an unassailable majority and yet saddled by doubt, with key decisions made outside of Cabinet by a selected few. There is a definite sense of missed opportunity, in spite of the various successes that were brought. An interesting and thought provoking read.
March 7, 2023
42 years on from publication this is a cracking read for anyone who lived through the New Labour era. Andrew Rawnsley had a ring side seat to witness the rise to power of Tony Blair’s great political project and it’s first term of office. This is not a partisan account, but an attempt to be even handed in the insights it affords to the thinking, negotiating, ego tripping and squabbling that went on behind the scenes.
Each chapter is centred around either a major policy initiative or more often a political crisis (sometimes self-inflicted) ranging from the Bernie Ecclestone donation panic as the party came to power to the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis that necessitated pushing back the date of the election.
What New Labour might have achieved were it not for the seething mix of strong personalities, seemly permanently in competition with one another, we will never know. Blair, Brown, Campbell, Whelan, Mandelson and Prescott et al may well have been in the same party and Government, they rarely appear to be on the same team.
For all of that New Labour’s achievements were many and Rawnsley’s acknowledgement of some of those is the all the more credible as he does not gloss over it’s neuroses and failings. Servants Of The People is a gripping and intriguing read for a book of 500 pages documenting the workings of politics. There are moments where Rawnsley’s prose is superb. Particularly when he describes the febrile atmosphere that surrounded the first term on New Labour.
Each chapter is centred around either a major policy initiative or more often a political crisis (sometimes self-inflicted) ranging from the Bernie Ecclestone donation panic as the party came to power to the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis that necessitated pushing back the date of the election.
What New Labour might have achieved were it not for the seething mix of strong personalities, seemly permanently in competition with one another, we will never know. Blair, Brown, Campbell, Whelan, Mandelson and Prescott et al may well have been in the same party and Government, they rarely appear to be on the same team.
For all of that New Labour’s achievements were many and Rawnsley’s acknowledgement of some of those is the all the more credible as he does not gloss over it’s neuroses and failings. Servants Of The People is a gripping and intriguing read for a book of 500 pages documenting the workings of politics. There are moments where Rawnsley’s prose is superb. Particularly when he describes the febrile atmosphere that surrounded the first term on New Labour.
April 19, 2020
Very intersting and well written. Rawnsley has unrivalled access to the key players in the New Labour project. His coverage of all the key events is very good and the book is definitely worth a read if you want to learn more about the early days of New Labour.
Rawnsley is clearly a Blairite and almost always sides with Blair in the internal fued between Number 10 and the Treasury, however he still criticises Blair and points out where he went wrong. He is also fairly sympathetic towards New Labour as a project and brushes over their failure to fundamentally change the country. In some cases he would have you belive that "a new dawn had broken" when in hindsight it is generally accepted that New Labour was a continuation of Thatcherism, with a bit of social justice.
I found it interesting how Blair, Mandelson and Gould treated the heartlands as unimportant because, in their view, they were always going to vote Labour. They did, however, pay close attention to "Middle Britain" and, in may cases, made decisions purely to keep "Middle Britain" on side. The dealignment of the working classes started in the early years of New labour and as you read throught the book it is clear to see why.
New Labour played a big part in forging the new political landscape we see today and for anyone with an interested in modern politics it is definitely a book worth reading and a project worth understanding.
Rawnsley is clearly a Blairite and almost always sides with Blair in the internal fued between Number 10 and the Treasury, however he still criticises Blair and points out where he went wrong. He is also fairly sympathetic towards New Labour as a project and brushes over their failure to fundamentally change the country. In some cases he would have you belive that "a new dawn had broken" when in hindsight it is generally accepted that New Labour was a continuation of Thatcherism, with a bit of social justice.
I found it interesting how Blair, Mandelson and Gould treated the heartlands as unimportant because, in their view, they were always going to vote Labour. They did, however, pay close attention to "Middle Britain" and, in may cases, made decisions purely to keep "Middle Britain" on side. The dealignment of the working classes started in the early years of New labour and as you read throught the book it is clear to see why.
New Labour played a big part in forging the new political landscape we see today and for anyone with an interested in modern politics it is definitely a book worth reading and a project worth understanding.
February 21, 2023
Fascinating book. As someone who never liked or voted for Labour or New Labour, this book was revelatory. Never did I think I would say that Tony Blair comes across as a reasonably decent guy but glad to have it confirmed that Gordon Brown is every bit as awful as I already thought. Hell, even Mandelson comes off in a better light (just needs to be open and honest rather than hiding stuff all the time).
This book dispelled so many myths for me. This all powerful, united government is shown to be nothing of the sort. The totally assured, confident and decisive person that Tony Blair appears to be is nothing but a mask. As mentioned, the only element that met expectations was Gordon Brown; how this government managed to get any business done with him around is a wonder. I’ve read a lot of political books and never have I encountered someone so obstructive and uncooperative. To think it’s the tories who have the reputation for being manipulative and duplicitous!
Having read this, I immediately have to know the background story to the second half of the new labour government and more particularly the disaster that was Brown’s prime ministership so it’s on to “End of the party”. I was originally going to take a break and read something else first but I can’t wait!
This book dispelled so many myths for me. This all powerful, united government is shown to be nothing of the sort. The totally assured, confident and decisive person that Tony Blair appears to be is nothing but a mask. As mentioned, the only element that met expectations was Gordon Brown; how this government managed to get any business done with him around is a wonder. I’ve read a lot of political books and never have I encountered someone so obstructive and uncooperative. To think it’s the tories who have the reputation for being manipulative and duplicitous!
Having read this, I immediately have to know the background story to the second half of the new labour government and more particularly the disaster that was Brown’s prime ministership so it’s on to “End of the party”. I was originally going to take a break and read something else first but I can’t wait!
July 14, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ Book 70 of 2024. “Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour” by Andrew Rawnsley.
“Andrew Rawnsley’s Servants of the People is a timely and fascinating look at New Labour.
Every new government promises to represent a new dawn, but for New Labour it was the Covenant that Tony Blair made with Britain. The party that won a landslide victory on May Day 1997 made the special claim that it represented a decisive break with the disappointments of the old left and the old right: its Third Way would transcend both.
Having fashioned an extraordinarily wide coalition to secure power, New Labour would hold it as Servants of the People. Was that a grandiloquent way of saying the government would be enslaved to the opinion polls? Or has Tony Blair been pursuing a strategic plan, breathtaking in its audacity, to remake the political landscape of Britain in the third millennium?”
“Andrew Rawnsley’s Servants of the People is a timely and fascinating look at New Labour.
Every new government promises to represent a new dawn, but for New Labour it was the Covenant that Tony Blair made with Britain. The party that won a landslide victory on May Day 1997 made the special claim that it represented a decisive break with the disappointments of the old left and the old right: its Third Way would transcend both.
Having fashioned an extraordinarily wide coalition to secure power, New Labour would hold it as Servants of the People. Was that a grandiloquent way of saying the government would be enslaved to the opinion polls? Or has Tony Blair been pursuing a strategic plan, breathtaking in its audacity, to remake the political landscape of Britain in the third millennium?”
December 10, 2017
An amazing book which has led me to new thoughts about both 1990s Labour, and the current political parties.
It's accessible and engaging, even for someone (like me) who wasn't old enough to have followed politics at the time.
I particular love the way Rawnsley handles the supporting cast. Each of the major cabinet ministers (Mandelson, Straw, Cook and so on) gets a chapter to their own as their 'key moments' appear. In a couple of places, Rawnsley plays with the timeline to make that work, but what it means is you really get to know the main characters - get a sense of what they brought, and how they grew.
My only regret was when it stopped! I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, 'The End of the Party'.
It's accessible and engaging, even for someone (like me) who wasn't old enough to have followed politics at the time.
I particular love the way Rawnsley handles the supporting cast. Each of the major cabinet ministers (Mandelson, Straw, Cook and so on) gets a chapter to their own as their 'key moments' appear. In a couple of places, Rawnsley plays with the timeline to make that work, but what it means is you really get to know the main characters - get a sense of what they brought, and how they grew.
My only regret was when it stopped! I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, 'The End of the Party'.
October 11, 2020
There is something different about reading a book like this so many years after it was written, you can't help but compare to what is going on now.
This is a strange period in history for me, I was a student and had done politics a'level so would have thought I was relatively political, but so much of this passed me by. Not only actual events but looking back understanding of people and the game was beyond my understanding (whatever my 17-22 year old self would have thought. It's in that weird twilight of being something I remember but not quite able to understand fully
This is a strange period in history for me, I was a student and had done politics a'level so would have thought I was relatively political, but so much of this passed me by. Not only actual events but looking back understanding of people and the game was beyond my understanding (whatever my 17-22 year old self would have thought. It's in that weird twilight of being something I remember but not quite able to understand fully
September 5, 2019
An absolutely brilliant book. Every page is incredibly interesting and readable and Rawnsley does a brilliant job of giving a good level of detail without making the book too specific and dry. I'd say this is a must-read for anyone interested in post-war history and politics. I can see why this book won so many accolades on its release.
July 27, 2020
The best book I've yet read about British politics. Gossipy but throughly engrossing. Rawnsley's access and insight helps pierce the myth-making surrounding New Labour and provides a sometimes-brutal but revealing portrait of the young government. I devoured this book in barely over a week and am now reading his 2010 follow-up.
June 23, 2024
It's an interesting account of the first years of the only labour government I've lived through. However, despite a few scandals and international moment (Kosovo war), what is apparent is that the political issues are of another time compared with the sordid political world we currently are living through.
November 13, 2021
An entertaining piece of contemporary history. I learnt how fragile the Blair/Brown relationship was even in the early days and how paranoid New Labour were concerning self image and how they were received by the public.
December 21, 2022
The best 22 year old book about a 25 year old government I've ever read. To get such access/insight whilst the party was still in power is amazing and probably never repeatable. Fascinating insight into the last positive political change of my lifetime.
July 12, 2024
Fun to read of the last Labour government with a large majority. Remembered much of the events but hadn’t appreciated Blair’s commitment to both Kosovo and Ireland. S as ever in the U.K. we don’t do the non domestic that well in terms of coverage and analysis (or it could be just me).
May 25, 2020
Fascinating. Could not put down which is unusual for a political book. Loved.
October 15, 2020
take notes, keir
February 20, 2021
Excellent book by Andrew Rawnsley in writing such exemplary work of contemporary history. Incredible informative and easy to read
July 20, 2013
A very readable account of Tony Blair's first term as British prime minister. Rawnsley does assume a certain level of political knowledge that might be reasonable for the typical British reader of this book. If you're not British, and things like "Clause Four" and "Ernest Bevin" don't ring even vague bells for you, you might want to keep Google handy at a few points.
Being an American who wasn't following British politics closely for much of Tony Blair's time in office, I was mostly aware of Blair when he did something that got substantial coverage in the American press. From this, I had two rather contradictory images of him. One was of a world leader who seemed to demonstrate much more focus and moral clarity during the war in Kosovo than President Clinton. The other was of a politician who made himself President Bush's willing accomplice in misleading the world about the case for war in Iraq. Rawnsley's book certainly makes it possible to square these two Blair's as the same man: it seems clear that Blair was capable of great energy and accomplishment when he was willing to wholeheartedly commit to something. However, it's also clear that he was obsessed with opinion polls and the idea of securing his future place in history, that he didn't actually have many strong political convictions of his own, and that he had a lot of difficulty dealing with conflict among the members of his cabinet.
Mostly, though, this is a book that is likely to make you want to read lots of other books. In particular, Rawnsley's account of the Northern Irish peace negotiations is riveting, but clearly highly compressed. I do hope some good books have been written dealing with that in more detail. I'm also quite eager to read The End of the Party, Rawnsley's book that picks up where this one left off.
Being an American who wasn't following British politics closely for much of Tony Blair's time in office, I was mostly aware of Blair when he did something that got substantial coverage in the American press. From this, I had two rather contradictory images of him. One was of a world leader who seemed to demonstrate much more focus and moral clarity during the war in Kosovo than President Clinton. The other was of a politician who made himself President Bush's willing accomplice in misleading the world about the case for war in Iraq. Rawnsley's book certainly makes it possible to square these two Blair's as the same man: it seems clear that Blair was capable of great energy and accomplishment when he was willing to wholeheartedly commit to something. However, it's also clear that he was obsessed with opinion polls and the idea of securing his future place in history, that he didn't actually have many strong political convictions of his own, and that he had a lot of difficulty dealing with conflict among the members of his cabinet.
Mostly, though, this is a book that is likely to make you want to read lots of other books. In particular, Rawnsley's account of the Northern Irish peace negotiations is riveting, but clearly highly compressed. I do hope some good books have been written dealing with that in more detail. I'm also quite eager to read The End of the Party, Rawnsley's book that picks up where this one left off.
June 3, 2020
Excellent account of New Labours first years in power.
February 9, 2017
Highly enjoyable read which turned what could either be a very dry subject or a very tabloidesque, sensationalist subject (depending on how the subject is approached) instead into a thoroughly insightful, thought provoking journey into the personality's, actions and mindsets of the key figures behind New Labour and the Blair Government from 1997 to 2001.
A must read for anyone interested in Politics, British History or current affairs. I had great fun joining Rawnsley on his well researched yet accessible journey into the very heart of the Government we all had such high expectations for.
A must read for anyone interested in Politics, British History or current affairs. I had great fun joining Rawnsley on his well researched yet accessible journey into the very heart of the Government we all had such high expectations for.
December 30, 2017
"So far we've had Frost on Sunday, panic on Monday, U-turn on Tuesday and waffle on Wednesday."
The above quote is by William Hague doing a cracking Craig David impersonation.
This reads like a work of fiction. It flows brilliantly and you become invested in the relationships of all the main players.
My only reservation is that Rownsley points Brown as the real bad guy and Blair as this well-meaning, inexperienced and sometimes weak PM. Knowing what we know now that is clearly not the case. However, I find everything written in this book as the most probable tale of New Labour.
The above quote is by William Hague doing a cracking Craig David impersonation.
This reads like a work of fiction. It flows brilliantly and you become invested in the relationships of all the main players.
My only reservation is that Rownsley points Brown as the real bad guy and Blair as this well-meaning, inexperienced and sometimes weak PM. Knowing what we know now that is clearly not the case. However, I find everything written in this book as the most probable tale of New Labour.
May 27, 2012
A well written book covering the first period of New Labour in government. Amazing that Labour made it through to gain a second term in office - hopefully at least some of them realised that constantly playing to the media and in fighting was not the way ahead. In conclusion it's a good read definitely less biased than some of the books written by those in power. However it just highlights the total lack of abilities and moral convictions of politicians.
July 22, 2015
This is as gripping as a well written novel. I read half the book in one sitting! Andrew Rawnsley has covered the first term of the New Labour government comprehensively and with humour. I look forward to reading The End Of The Party" for the next two terms.
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