Book Review: A Party with Socialists in It - Simon Hannah

An invaluable addition to the history of the parliamentary Labour movement in the UK

Simon Hannah’s history of the Labour Left is clear-sighted, rich, and largely non-ideological. I would recommend the book purely for its balance of conciseness and depth.

From a left-wing perspective, it is incredibly interesting in gaining an understanding the historic mistakes made by the left, as well as the times it was undermined by the right of the Party.

But to forget ideological predispositions for a moment, there is a huge amount to be learnt for any Labour activist or supporter. The role of pressure groups, youth groups and CLPs has fluctuated enormously throughout the 20th century. And the importance of having charismatic and inspiring leaders should not be underestimated.

The last chapter is somewhat disappointing. Hannah comes to his conclusion that it is the internal contradictions of a bourgeois workers party that prevent it from truly challenging capitalism. The notion is that while Labour has always been a party with workers in it and for workers, capitalists and agents of capitalism have generally been in control. While this is an interesting idea, this book was simply not the place for this thesis to be advanced.

The very reason that the book is so worthy of praise is also the reason why this conclusion feels hollow. Hannah has given a largely unbiased account of historical events, rarely presented in Marxist language. Unfortunately it feels like too much of a jump for Hannah to conclude that the struggles that Bevan faced, Wilson’s move to the right, Foot’s failure, Kinnock’s centrism, Mandelson’s deviousness and Corbyn’s disappointing 2019 result are all a result of capitalist control of the Party. There is certainly an interesting case to be made, but Hannah only hinted at these themes in the introduction and conclusion and makes a unsubstantiated leap to end his book on a strong socialist note.

Nevertheless, A Party with Socialists in It is essential reading for both the Bevanite and Blairite.

The themes are especially relevant today, with the purging of left wing candidates seeming to be something that the Labour Party has experienced several times before. However, as stated in previous blogs, Starmer’s overt cautiousness does betray a lack of confidence somewhere.

It will be interesting to see if Sue Gray’s appointment changes Starmer’s strategy. Reportedly, his previous Chief of Staff, Sam White, was dismissed due to “an excess of caution that too often prevented Starmer from seizing the initiative". Perhaps Gray will bring confidence and initiative to the LOTO office.