* Appearing at a critical juncture in the history of the Labour Party, Speak for Britain! provides an original and challenging interpretation of Labour s evolution from its sectional trade union origins to its present status as a national governing party. * Making use of a wide range of primary sources as well as constituency party records that reveal the dynamics of membership recruitment and the adoption of candidates, Martin Pugh challenges many traditional accounts written from the perspective of the national leadership. * Controversially, he argues that Labour never entirely succeeded in becoming the party of the working class ; rather than converting the whole working class to Socialism, it skilfully adapted itself to the variations in local and regional political cultures by making use of Victorian Liberal Radical traditions in some areas and employing a populist Tory brand of politics in others. Moreover, the character of the party was shaped by the recruitment of many of its influential leaders from middle and upper-class Conservative backgrounds. * Speak for Britain! charts Labour s rise to power by re-examining the importance of the First World War, the General Stri

Author Biography

Martin Pugh was Professor of British History at Newcastle University and Research Professor in History at Liverpool John Moores University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a member of the advisory panel of the BBC History Magazine, and the author of over twelve books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century history. He lives in Northumberland.