Hammer of the Left: The Battle For the Soul of the Labour Party

by John Golding

“We went into the general election with an unelectable leader, in a state of chaos with a manifesto that might have swept us to victory in cloud cuckoo land, but which was held in contempt in the Britain of 1983.” It is said that those who do not learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them, and though Golding was describing the Labour Party of the early 1980s, he could just as easily have been talking about its situation today. A lurch to the left and a party in turmoil — the ascension of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader will, for many, trigger only unhappy memories of the dark days of the 1970s and ’80s, when the party was plagued by a civil war that threatened to end all hopes of re-election. In that battle, moderate elements fought the illiberal hard left for the soul of Labour; that they won, paving the way for later electoral successes, was down to men and women like John Golding. In this visceral, no-holds-barred account, Golding describes how he took on and helped defeat the Militant Tendency and the rest of the hard left, providing not only a vivid portrait of political intrigue and warfare, but a timely reminder for the party of today of the dangers of disunity and of drifting too far from electoral reality.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

610 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Richard Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of the fight against extremist infiltration of the Labour Party in the seventies and eighties. It's probably inevitable that history seems to be repeating itself just now. The epilogue describes this. Golding writes well about his involvement in the political change and doesn't spare the humbug and cynicism of the opposition - Tony Benn and Eric Heffer in particular. Of necessity the account brings in a great deal of detail on the minutiae of Labour's constitutional affairs, the conferences and governing bodies. So unless you're a political junky, much of this can become tedious although essential to understanding how the political changes were made and the enormous effort put in to get the party back.

[Malcolm Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading the new version with postscript by John Golding's successor as Newcastle Under Lyme's MP. The parallels with today and the guide to action is clear.

[Kyus Beaufort · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book. It's made all the more poignant by the knowledge that after all the work he did to throw the hard left out of the Labour party and make it electable again, they snuck back in after Miliband's leadership election rule changes and we ended up with four years of chaos under Jeremy Corbyn.

If you're a Labour Kremlinologist like me then there's lots to like here, as it covers in detail the internal politics of the party and the different executives, conferences and committees which Golding worked through to consign Benn to irrelevance and expel Militant altogether. It does so in a gossipy, easy-to-read way that keeps it compelling.

I was slightly surprised that he didn't go more over how the Liverpool branch of Militant was thrown out of the party, but perhaps he wasn't as involved in that and so it wasn't appropriate for this book. It's also very weird seeing MPs we would now consider as on the right of the party - Margaret Beckett for one - appear here in their earlier guise of far-left acolytes.

All of the acronyms for different organisations and unions get very confusing, but there's a helpful glossary at the back for if (when!) you get confused as to who's who.

[Pinko Palest · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wonder: did John Golding employ a ghost-writer for this? I do not doubt his literary abilities, it is the stylistics that got me wondering, and quite a few parts of the book seem to be written in a very journalistic style. Almost tabloidese in fact. This is not a serious source, of course, and it is a self-serving exercise. The so-called 'moderates' will lap this up of course, although it also contains a very harsh lesson for them too: the fight-back of the Right within the Labour party in the 80s mainly took place through the unions. In other words, the Right within Labour cannot rely solely on the PLP, and has to carry at least some of the unions with it. Luckily, this does not seem like happening any time soon. It is great fun in places, of course, and has a few home truths for everybody, even for those on the Left (for example, the packs of costly leaflets still lying undistributed)

[Jesse Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an enjoyable slog -- but its central flaw is that it's too detailed and far too same-y throughout. If you don't find interest in the minutiae of NEC procedure, or the internal machinations of 1980s-era trade unions, avoid this book! Golding's passion and wit and willingness to savage his rivals makes up the best parts of the book; but too much of the rest is consumed with endless recitation of conference card votes and NEC meeting minutes. Golding was a central figure in perhaps the Labour Party's moment of greatest historical peril -- I just wish his account was more compelling!

[Hugo Collingridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time that I've read this and I'd forgotten just how plain entertaining it is. All of the heroes and villains are really fleshed out and it's written in a great conversational style. Like having a drink with John Golding in the Pub after a particularly bruising meeting. It helps if you've spent a lot of time in general committees, branch executive committees and so forth as well.

[John Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for any left wing member of the party who truly wants to understand the lengths the right wing will go, to win/keep control. The vitriol shown by Golding towards the left dominates his writing. Anyone who thinks the right wing will just sit back and accept the result when they lose a democratic vote will be rudely awakened as they read his frank account of how a handful of MPs supported by a few trade union leaders decided to get control of the party.

[Daniel Carr]

While the level of detail can verge on the tedious, this is a good read for any looking to understand the state of the UK Labour Party in the 70s and 80s during which the hard-left seized sway before losing it (for a time). It's also a solid primer on how important organising is to politics. Quite a bit of humour - often black - in Golding's retelling as well.

Would recommend to anyone interested in the 'backstory' to the current tension in the UK Labour Party, from a moderate perspective.