Speak for Britain! av Martin Pugh

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<p>Written at a critical juncture in the history of the Labour Party, <i>Speak for Britain!</i> is a thought-provoking and highly original interpretation of the party''s evolution, from its trade union origins to its status as a national governing party. It charts Labour''s rise to power by re-examining the impact of the First World War, the general strike of 1926, Labour''s breakthrough at the 1945 general election, the influence of post-war affluence and consumerism on the fortunes and character of the party, and its revival after the defeats of the Thatcher era.<br><br>Controversially, Pugh argues that Labour never entirely succeeded in becoming ''the party of the working class''; many of its influential recruits - from Oswald Mosley to Hugh Gaitskell to Tony Blair - were from middle and upper-class Conservative backgrounds and rather than converting the working class to socialism, Labour adapted itself to local and regional political cultures.</p>