How Labour Wins (And Why It Loses) From 1900 to Now

by Beattie, Douglas

• ISBN13: 9781783968343
• ISBN10: 1783968346
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-08-12
• Publisher: Elliott & Thompson

Summary

A fascinating history of how the unfolding drama of each election from 1900 to 2024 has shaped the Labour Party and modern Britain. This is an essential guide to how left-wing politics succeeds or fails through an accessible, highly readable and timely history of Labour’s performance in the 34 British General Elections since 1900. There have been 8 hung parliaments resulting in coalitions. Labour has won power 12 times; the Conservatives outright on 14 occasions. The final chapter of the book analyses the landslide result of the General Election on 4th July 2024.

With exclusive insights from former leaders and Prime Ministers - including Gordon Brown and Neil Kinnock - How Labour Wins provides a vital guide to British politics today by delving deep into the secrets of long-forgotten campaigns, tracing the Party’s roots, examining the strategies, leaders, transformative moments and missteps which have defined Labour at the ballot box and shaped modern Britain.

Author Biography

Douglas Beattie grew up in Dumfriesshire, studied politics at Glasgow University and is an award-winning former BBC journalist, author and Labour insider. He has first-hand experience of elections having stood for Parliament as the Scottish Labour candidate for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale in the 2017 General Election and also been a Labour councillor. He now lives in London and works as a trade union media and political director. Douglas Beattie is fascinated by tribal divisions and his previous book is an acclaimed history of British football derbies, The Rivals Game

Table of Contents

CONTENTS Introduction 1 Vote Notes: Key Facts on Labour’ s History 7 Chapter 1: 1893 – A Distinct Labour Group 10 Chapter 2: 1900 – The Khaki Two 14 Chapter 3: 1906 – A New Party in Parliament 19 Chapter 4: 1910 ( January) – Does Labour Count? 25 Chapter 5: 1910 (December) – Labour Clears the Way 30 Chapter 6: 1918 – Everything Changes 34 Chapter 7: 1922 – Unrest and Development 41 Chapter 8: 1923 – ‘ Fail or Succeed’ – Labour in Government 47 Chapter 9: 1924 – Red October 54 Chapter 10: 1929 – Striking Back 61 Chapter 11: 1931 – Depression and Betrayal 68 Chapter 12: 1935 – The Rising Tide 75 Chapter 13: 1945 – Winning the Peace 82 Chapter 14: 1950 – A Sharp Kick in the Pants 93 Chapter 15: 1951 – Forward or Backwards 103 Chapter 16: 1955 – Fighting Snow White 112 Chapter 17: 1959 – The Struggle Continues 122 Chapter 18: 1964 – The New Britain 132 Chapter 19: 1966 – Time for Decision 144 Chapter 20: 1970 – Now Britain’ s Strong 154 Chapter 21: 1974 (February) – Yesterday’ s Men? 165 Chapter 22: 1974 (October) – A Bumpy Ride 176 Chapter 23: 1979 – Sea Change 188 Chapter 24: 1983 – The New Hope 202 Chapter 25: 1987 – The Dream Ticket 215 Chapter 26: 1992 – Well All Right! 228 Chapter 27: 1997 – A New Dawn 242 Chapter 28: 2001 – The Quiet Landslide 256 Chapter 29: 2005 – We Can Unite Again 267 Chapter 30: 2010 – A Privilege to Serve 279 Chapter 31: 2015 – On the Brink 295 Chapter 32: 2017 – The Many Not the Few 310 Chapter 33: 2019 – Cutting the Flowers 327 Chapter 34: 2024 – All Change 342 Acknowledgements 357 Endnotes 359 Labour Leaders and their Constituencies 376 Index 378