New Labour's Pasts

Where other books are either highly partisan dismissals or appreciations of the Third Way, or dull sociological accounts, this book gets behind the clichés in order to show just what is left of Labour party ideology and what the future may hold. New Labour has changed the face of Britain. Culture, class, education, health, the arts, leisure, the economy have all seen seismic shifts since the 1997 election that raised Blair to power. The Labour that rules has distanced itself from the failed Labour of the 70s and 80s, but the core remains. Labour remains gripped by its own past - unable and unwilling to shed its ties to the old Labour party, but determined to avoid the mistakes of which lead to four electoral defeats between 1979 and 1992. Cronin covers the full history of the party from its post war triumph through decades of shambolic leadership against ruthless and organised opposition to the resurgent New Labour of the 90s that finally took Britain into the new millennium.

James E. Cronin

Acknowledgments; Chapter 1 Introduction New Labour and its pasts; Chapter 1a The burden of Labour's legacy; Chapter 2 The Labour Party, planning and growth; Chapter 3 Interests, conflict and the party of progress, 1964-70; Chapter 4 Wilson, Heath and Benn remake the Labour Party; Chapter 5 The overwhelming burden of office, 1974-79; Chapter 6 Defeat, divisions and defections, 1979-83; Chapter 7 Labour in the shadow of Thatcher, 1983-87; Chapter 8 'Modernise' and lose, 1987-92; Chapter 9 The fitful progress of 'New Labour'; Chapter 10 'New Labour's' moment; Chapter 11 The New Labour project in practice; Chapter 12 Postscript: Bournemouth 2003;