
Choosing the Labour Leader
Labour Party Leadership Elections from Wilson to Brown
Timothy Heppell(Author)
I.B. Tauris (Publisher)
Published on 30. August 2010
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-84885-381-2 (ISBN)
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Description
The change in the method of selecting the Labour Party leader, from an elite parliamentary ballot to a mass participatory Electoral College, which occurred in 1981 was ideologically motivated. However, the strategy of the Left to enhance the accountability of the incumbent party leader to the wider Labour movement, and the Left's chances of securing an ideological succession in the party leadership failed. Drawing together debates on the method of party leadership selection and the ideological positioning of leadership candidates, this book examines each leadership election since 1963 as a means of charting the decline of the left within the Labour Party. Given the bypassing of the Electoral College to appoint Gordon Brown in 2007, and the debates surrounding his authority and legitimacy as Labour Party leader thereafter, this book offers a comprehensive and timely examination of Labour Party leadership elections from Wilson to Brown which will be invaluable for scholars of British Politics and the history of the Labour Party.
Reviews / Votes
'Leadership contests tell us an awful lot about the parties that conduct them and the politicians that contest them. By writing this book, as well as his companion volume on the Conservative Party, Tim Heppell has done all of us interested in British politics a great service... He makes it clear that in leadership contests, as in politics more generally, timing (and momentum) is everything: a number of Labour's 'nearly men' may have made it all the way to the top if only the elections they stood in had occurred earlier or later (sometimes only months earlier or later) than they actually did. Politics, then, is about might-have-beens. But it is also about institutions, interests, ideas, and individuals. Heppell's evaluations of Labour's leadership contest strikes a judicious balance between each of those factors and captures the interactions between them... Anyone interested in asking how and why Gordon Brown's successor got themselves elected will be in better position to answer that question after reading this thought-provoking and well-researched book.' - Dr Tim Bale, Department of Politics and Contemporary European Studies, University of Sussex; 'Heppell's book considers the circumstances in which each leader of the Labour Party acquired their mandate and the consequences that flowed from the manner of their election. This is significant as although there are many excellent books on leadership selection in the British Politics, there are none that focus explicitly on leadership selection within the Labour Party alone and thus Choosing the Labour Leader makes a valuable contribution to the study of contemporary Labour politics.' - Dr Michael Hill, School of Education and Social Science, University of Central LancashireMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84885-381-2 (9781848853812)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2010
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€103.99
Available for download
Person
Timothy Heppell is Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Leeds and the author of 'Choosing the Tory Leader: Conservative Party Leadership Elections from Heath to Cameron' (I.B.Tauris, 2008).
Content
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: From Gaitskell to Wilson: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1963
Chapter 3: From Wilson to Callaghan: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1976
Chapter 4: From Callaghan to Foot: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1980
Chapter 5: From Foot to Kinnock: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1983
Chapter 6: Kinnock defeats Benn: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1988
Chapter 7: From Kinnock to Smith: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1992
Chapter 8: From Smith to Blair: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1994
Chapter 9: From Blair to Brown: The Coronation of Brown as Labour Party Leader 2007
Chapter 10: Conclusion
Chapter 2: From Gaitskell to Wilson: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1963
Chapter 3: From Wilson to Callaghan: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1976
Chapter 4: From Callaghan to Foot: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1980
Chapter 5: From Foot to Kinnock: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1983
Chapter 6: Kinnock defeats Benn: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1988
Chapter 7: From Kinnock to Smith: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1992
Chapter 8: From Smith to Blair: The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1994
Chapter 9: From Blair to Brown: The Coronation of Brown as Labour Party Leader 2007
Chapter 10: Conclusion