Radical Lambeth 1978-1991

by Simon Hannah

In the 1980s Lambeth was synonymous with rebel Labour councillors and featured regularly in national newspaper headlines for its protests, its squatting, and its resistance to and defiance of central government. From the Town Hall to the front line of Railton Road it confronted racism in the police, the Poll Tax, the Gulf War, and the nascent Thatcherism of the Conservative government. It was a site of overlapping resistance from trade unionists, black residents, the LGBTQ community, and other local people.

Condemned in the press as a 'loony left' borough, Lambeth was at the heart of the struggle against the Conservative agenda in the capital. This was a fight for municipal socialism, for solidarity with causes both at home and abroad, and against the crisis of inner city urban life in a decade dominated by greed is good capitalism at the expense of working people.

Drawing on first-hand accounts from those involved, this book tells the story of Radical Lambeth, an inner London community that fought back.

224 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2021

Reviews

[Darren Maughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

A valiant defence of the far-Left council administrations during 1978-1991 from a sympathetic author.
I disagreed with much of what those administrations did and believed they were one aspect of why Labour was unable to win a general election. However, I cannot dismiss policies which are now mainstream, for example, LGBT rights. Lambeth put themselves out front, and received plenty of opprobrium.
Some of the analysis I disagree with or it is simplistic but this book is a necessary corrective to the usual works about Lambeth et al

[Herbie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not particularly well-written or well-edited but still a useful and interesting account which is neither hostile to nor overly defensive of the Lambeth Labour left, and benefits from hindsight without being condescending