Back on home territory here, and a book released to mark the centenary of the first Labour Government. Rather than being a history of the government itself, it's a very good summary of the events leading up to Labour forming a government, how they grew in parliament and popularity (although let's face it, the key factor was the franchise extension to cover all men of working age). It is interesting to see how horrified and shocked the establishment were with the thought of socialists taking power, particularly given what had happened in Bolshevik Russia. There are some potted biographies of all the cabinet too, rescuing many from obscurity. It also shows how much the demographics of the PLP have changed, and for the worse. Nowadays nearly all our MPS are graduates and from a professional background, there are very few truly working-class MPs, and those that we do have- Ian Lavery, Nadia Whittome, say, are under attack from their own party leadership and face deselection.
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