What do you think?
Rate this book
A Century of Labour
Britain’s first Labour government took office on 22 January 1924. Its centenary provides an opportunity to reassess the party's performance over the last 100 years, and with an election pending, the character and purpose of the modern party. Labour defined the dominant political settlement of much of the Twentieth the welfare state. It has achieved much in pursuit of material change, social reform and equality. It has challenged patriarchy, racism and the legacy of imperialism, promoted human rights and delivered democratic and constitutional renewal. Yet any honest assessment must acknowledge a century littered with failures and missed opportunities. In this compelling book, Jon Cruddas, one of the country's foremost experts on Labour politics, details the vivid personalities and epic factional battles, the immense achievements and profound disappointments that define a century of Labour. Uniquely framed around competing visions of socialist justice within the Party, he provides a way to rethink Labour history, the divisions and factions on the left and to reassess key figures at the helm of the movement from Keir Hardie through to Keir Starmer.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2024
11 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Jon Cruddas
5 books1 followerJonathan Cruddas is an English Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Dagenham and Rainham since 2010, and formerly for Dagenham between 2001 and 2010. A graduate of the University of Warwick, Cruddas was first elected to Parliament at the 2001 general election.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 18, 2024
detailed analysis of the Labour party from its origins to the modern day and examination of the Political science and economy of the party very interesting
Read
January 30, 2024NB: This was reviewed alongside The Wild Men: The Remarkable Story of Britain’s First Labour Government by David Torrance and The Men of 1924: Britain’s First Labour Government by Peter Clark.
In 1924 MacDonald wrote: ‘The difficulties of the Party are within more than without.’ In Jon Cruddas’ thoughtful retrospective A Century of Labour, the party remains dogged by the difficulties of sustaining – much less reconciling – its volatile mixture of factions, tendencies and sectional interests. Cruddas, longstanding MP for Dagenham & Rainham, gives succinct mappings of Labour’s origins and history that bookend a detailed thematic exploration of its fortunes from 1900 to today, a journey in which landmark victories under Clement Attlee in 1945, Harold Wilson in 1966 and Tony Blair in 1997 arise from an otherwise unpromising morass of ‘waste’, ‘strife’ and ‘wilderness’.
Rather than the strains of social democracy versus socialism, Cruddas frames Labour’s intellectual history around competing theories of justice. These ideas stem variously from traditions of utilitarianism, radical democracy and ethical socialism, drawn from progressive movements both predating and beyond Labour as well as asserted to varying degrees within the party. This approach allows A Century of Labour to productively transcend more familiar analyses of the party’s defining conflicts. Nonetheless, its narrative also sees the pressures that Clark and Torrance pinpoint in 1924 continue, with cautious, pragmatic gradualism in government – even when based on a belief in socialism’s inevitability – too often becoming conservatism or paralysis, while many of its members and supporters view anything short of instant revolution as a disappointing anticlimax if not active betrayal.
What Cruddas terms ‘the death question’, on the party’s capacity to ‘adapt or die’ in the face of socioeconomic changes impacting its traditional voting blocs, has been a recurrent one. He recounts how the industrial working class which had thrown its weight behind Labour’s forward march in the early 20th century then underwent its own changes in status and identity – due, partly, to the social mobility enabled by Labour’s own achievements in office, including rising wages, job security and the settlement of the welfare state. After the party’s defeat to Winston Churchill’s Conservatives in 1951, this debate fed into more libertarian forms of socialism and the emergence of the New Left, and was renewed under Neil Kinnock’s battles with wider liberation movements and the party’s left as Thatcherism enacted its own targeted assault on both working-class identity and its industrial base. New Labour’s ‘modernisation’ of the party – in fact a partial return to early 20th-century LibLabism – took place as ‘end of history’ triumphalism after the end of the Cold War suggested that a socialist alternative to the status quo was no longer either valid or necessary. As the ensuing decades of crisis, unrest and instability have gone on to thoroughly debunk this suggestion, so the persistent question of Labour’s purpose – as a vehicle for ameliorated capitalism or for a wholesale transformation of it – has again become a site of struggle.
Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.
Rhian E. Jones writes on history and politics. Her latest book, with Matthew Brown, is Paint Your Town Red: How Preston Took Back Control and Your Town Can Too (Repeater, 2021).
In 1924 MacDonald wrote: ‘The difficulties of the Party are within more than without.’ In Jon Cruddas’ thoughtful retrospective A Century of Labour, the party remains dogged by the difficulties of sustaining – much less reconciling – its volatile mixture of factions, tendencies and sectional interests. Cruddas, longstanding MP for Dagenham & Rainham, gives succinct mappings of Labour’s origins and history that bookend a detailed thematic exploration of its fortunes from 1900 to today, a journey in which landmark victories under Clement Attlee in 1945, Harold Wilson in 1966 and Tony Blair in 1997 arise from an otherwise unpromising morass of ‘waste’, ‘strife’ and ‘wilderness’.
Rather than the strains of social democracy versus socialism, Cruddas frames Labour’s intellectual history around competing theories of justice. These ideas stem variously from traditions of utilitarianism, radical democracy and ethical socialism, drawn from progressive movements both predating and beyond Labour as well as asserted to varying degrees within the party. This approach allows A Century of Labour to productively transcend more familiar analyses of the party’s defining conflicts. Nonetheless, its narrative also sees the pressures that Clark and Torrance pinpoint in 1924 continue, with cautious, pragmatic gradualism in government – even when based on a belief in socialism’s inevitability – too often becoming conservatism or paralysis, while many of its members and supporters view anything short of instant revolution as a disappointing anticlimax if not active betrayal.
What Cruddas terms ‘the death question’, on the party’s capacity to ‘adapt or die’ in the face of socioeconomic changes impacting its traditional voting blocs, has been a recurrent one. He recounts how the industrial working class which had thrown its weight behind Labour’s forward march in the early 20th century then underwent its own changes in status and identity – due, partly, to the social mobility enabled by Labour’s own achievements in office, including rising wages, job security and the settlement of the welfare state. After the party’s defeat to Winston Churchill’s Conservatives in 1951, this debate fed into more libertarian forms of socialism and the emergence of the New Left, and was renewed under Neil Kinnock’s battles with wider liberation movements and the party’s left as Thatcherism enacted its own targeted assault on both working-class identity and its industrial base. New Labour’s ‘modernisation’ of the party – in fact a partial return to early 20th-century LibLabism – took place as ‘end of history’ triumphalism after the end of the Cold War suggested that a socialist alternative to the status quo was no longer either valid or necessary. As the ensuing decades of crisis, unrest and instability have gone on to thoroughly debunk this suggestion, so the persistent question of Labour’s purpose – as a vehicle for ameliorated capitalism or for a wholesale transformation of it – has again become a site of struggle.
Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.
Rhian E. Jones writes on history and politics. Her latest book, with Matthew Brown, is Paint Your Town Red: How Preston Took Back Control and Your Town Can Too (Repeater, 2021).
August 12, 2024
A balanced assessment of the Labour Party's achievements and shortcomings since first forming a government 100 years ago. It is clear that, should it form the next government (as polls suggest will likely be the case), there are plenty of questions to be answered in the coming years.
April 30, 2024
Few people are better placed than Jon Cruddas to write a history of the Labour Party. He has worked with individuals and groups on both the left and right of the Party, he was a supporter of Blair's initial few years as Prime Minister, but was eventually an opponent of Blair's role in Iraq and Afghanistan and criticised Blair for his policies on asylum seekers, Trident and the introduction of top-up fees for university students. He was also a member of Compass, a left of centre group within the Labour Party.
In this detailed account of the achievements and failures of all Labour governments and its six prime ministers, Cruddas argues that it is a mistake to see the Party through the prism of left and right disputes, instead suggesting there are three ideologies underpinning the party. Firstly, What he calls the Utilitarian tradition (which also includes some of the orthodix Marxist traditions). This tradition believes in using the state to ensure a better distribution of wealth and health, through education, incomes policy, nationalisation, affordable housing, etc. He argues that this approach is common in both the left and the right and is particularly important in an understanding of trade unionism. He suggests that this approach is the key to understanding the MacDonald and Attlee governments, including the creation of the NHS.
The second tradition is that of liberalism and the pursuit of individual freedom and challenging prejudice and discrimination. He suggests that much of the achievements of the Wilson (and to a lesser extent Callaghan) governments is in this area. It is also a tradition that informed the Blair premiership, particularly in the early years. Among these achievements are the various race relations acts, women's equality legislation, decriminalising homosexuality and later under Blair more moves towards protection for LGBT people, legislation outlawing the worst examples of discrimination against disabled people and so on.
He argues that, important as these two traditions are and despite the many achievements arising from them, a third theme is necessary: what he calls the Virtue tradition, but which is probably better referred to as "ethical socialism". He traces this strand back to the likes of John Ruskin and William Morris. He writes that this tradition is concerned with the common good and with shared understandings of citizenship, duty, rights and responsibilities.
He believes that all three strands need to be embraced if Labour is to maintain power and to move the country forward. He argues that the leaders who came closest to recognising this are Attlee, John Smith and the early years of Blair.
His analysis also outlines the many (and in some instances forgotten) gains resulting from every Labour government. For example, for all their faults, the two MacDonald minority Labour governments in the 1920s brought in legislation on housing, pay and working conditions that began to ease the worst aspects of inner city poverty. He also highlights the civil liberties and equality legislation brought during the Wilson years. He also suggests that, before he lost his way and before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars damaged his reputation, Blair continued that aspect of the Wilson legacy.
The book is not perfect. The author's attempts to shoehorn every policy decision into one of these three traditions doesn't always work. And, despite the Celtic roots of the Party, he has little to say about either Scotland or Wales. Nonetheless, this book is an important contribution and all socialists, whether from the left or right and whether inside or outside the party, should find it a worthwhile read.
In this detailed account of the achievements and failures of all Labour governments and its six prime ministers, Cruddas argues that it is a mistake to see the Party through the prism of left and right disputes, instead suggesting there are three ideologies underpinning the party. Firstly, What he calls the Utilitarian tradition (which also includes some of the orthodix Marxist traditions). This tradition believes in using the state to ensure a better distribution of wealth and health, through education, incomes policy, nationalisation, affordable housing, etc. He argues that this approach is common in both the left and the right and is particularly important in an understanding of trade unionism. He suggests that this approach is the key to understanding the MacDonald and Attlee governments, including the creation of the NHS.
The second tradition is that of liberalism and the pursuit of individual freedom and challenging prejudice and discrimination. He suggests that much of the achievements of the Wilson (and to a lesser extent Callaghan) governments is in this area. It is also a tradition that informed the Blair premiership, particularly in the early years. Among these achievements are the various race relations acts, women's equality legislation, decriminalising homosexuality and later under Blair more moves towards protection for LGBT people, legislation outlawing the worst examples of discrimination against disabled people and so on.
He argues that, important as these two traditions are and despite the many achievements arising from them, a third theme is necessary: what he calls the Virtue tradition, but which is probably better referred to as "ethical socialism". He traces this strand back to the likes of John Ruskin and William Morris. He writes that this tradition is concerned with the common good and with shared understandings of citizenship, duty, rights and responsibilities.
He believes that all three strands need to be embraced if Labour is to maintain power and to move the country forward. He argues that the leaders who came closest to recognising this are Attlee, John Smith and the early years of Blair.
His analysis also outlines the many (and in some instances forgotten) gains resulting from every Labour government. For example, for all their faults, the two MacDonald minority Labour governments in the 1920s brought in legislation on housing, pay and working conditions that began to ease the worst aspects of inner city poverty. He also highlights the civil liberties and equality legislation brought during the Wilson years. He also suggests that, before he lost his way and before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars damaged his reputation, Blair continued that aspect of the Wilson legacy.
The book is not perfect. The author's attempts to shoehorn every policy decision into one of these three traditions doesn't always work. And, despite the Celtic roots of the Party, he has little to say about either Scotland or Wales. Nonetheless, this book is an important contribution and all socialists, whether from the left or right and whether inside or outside the party, should find it a worthwhile read.
June 1, 2024
I am a big fan of Jon Cruddas, who is one of the most thoughtful Labour politicians. But I was disappointed reading this book. It wasn't the most accessible, which assumed one already knew a lot about Labour's history (one of the reasons I picked this up was precisely to learn more!). And it was also very descriptive. Pages of describing who got elected and what they did when, without the narrative/storytelling that I would expect. The analytical side was genuinely interesting about the different conceptions of justice. I really liked that. But I don't think it was executed especially well in this book.
March 23, 2024
Excellent and thoughtful exploration of 100 years of the LP. Great to revisit the good times as well as the barren years. Who knows what comes next! A really useful book for anyone studying politics.
March 12, 2024
really insightful
March 20, 2024
Interesting but quite a dense philosophical analysis that was hard going at times.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews