British Labour Leaders – 9781785909504

Asthe party that championed trade union rights, the creation of the NHS and theestablishment of a national minimum wage, Labour has played a crucial role inthe shaping of British society. And yet the leaders who have stood at its helm- from Keir Hardie to Sir Keir Starmer, via Clement Attlee, Tony Blair andJeremy Corbyn – have steered the party vessel with enormously varying degreesof success. Therequirements, techniques and goals of the Labour leadership since the party’sinception at the turn of the twentieth century have been forced to evolvealmost beyond recognition – and not all its leaders have managed to keep up. Thiscomprehensive and enlightening book – now fully updated with chapters on allLabour leaders up to Keir Starmer and an assessment of the party’s leadershipin relation to Brexit – considers the attributes and achievements of eachleader in the context of their respective time and diplomatic landscape. Offering a compelling analytical framework by which they may be judged, it alsoprovides detailed personal biographies from some of the country’s foremostpolitical critics and exclusive interviews with former leaders themselves. Anindispensable contribution to the study of party leadership, British LabourLeaders is the essential guide to understanding British political historyand governance.