Overview

On the eve of the general election, Ed Miliband declared that Labour had won the ‘ground war’. He proclaimed that his activists had been in touch with many more voters than his opponents: ‘We have had five million conversations. This will go to the wire.’ Yet the Conservatives went on to win a majority for the first time in more than two decades - while Labour lost seats in England, and were all but wiped out in Scotland. How could they get it so wrong? Iain Watson followed the Labour campaign around Britain, and now he examines what its senior politicians are now calling the party’s ‘political and organisational failures.’ He exposes the high-level divisions over when to rule out a deal with the SNP, the gulf between perception and reality over Labour’s level of support, and looks at the more successful campaigns of the Conservatives and Scottish Nationalists. He sets out the challenges for the next Labour leader, having had his own conversations with voters, activists and senior party figures, and discovers there is no easy solution to the party’s problems.

Full Product Details

Author:   Iain Watson
Publisher:   Luath Press Ltd
Imprint:   Luath Press Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.450kg
ISBN:  

9781910745267

ISBN 10:   191074526
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   10 October 2015
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgements 9 Preface 11 The Accidental Leader 13 There may be Trouble Ahead – The Election in Microcosm 41 Deal or No Deal 48 The Battle for Downing Street 53 From Builder to Soldier: Britain Succeeds When Working People Succeed 58 Funny Business 63 Zero Sum Game 69 We’re all Labour Here 76 Happy Warrior 83 Chips off the Old Block 86 A bit of Politics 89 A Taxing Issue 90 Education, Education… Fratricide 93 One Nation, No Vision? 96 Unions and the Union 100 Worry Points 102 A Flock of Starlings 108 13,000 Conversations 111 In Good Health? 114 Hold the Front Page 116 Missing a Trick? 120 Invitation Only 122 Campaign Stop 127 Not a Big Enough Difference 130 Put to the Test 133 Immigration and Exploitation 135 Marriage of Convenience 141 A Day at the Races 143 The Most Unlikely Cult of the 21st Century 146 Blood on His Hands, Blood on the Carpet 148 New Town Blues 151 Generation Rent 154 Marred by the SNP Myth 156 A Trip to the Theatre 158 Building Non-Traditional Support 160 Labour’s Brand Problem 162 Dangerous Territory 164 No Question of Deals 168 A Question of Credibility 171 Mayday, Mayday… Scottish Labour’s Existential Threat 178 Facebook v Foot-Weary: Right People, Wrong Conversations 184 Luvvies for Labour 190 Edstone 192 Message, Not Mileage 197 Five Million Conversations 199 The Strange Disappearance of Arnie Graf 205 A Little Less Conversation: Food, Drink and Fun 208 Breakfast in Doncaster 213 The Loser Always Wins? 215 Moment of Truth 220 Nuneaton is the New Basildon 223 Exit 226 A Question of Leadership 230 Appendices Appendix 1 Clause 4 – Aims and Values 265 Appendix 2 Labour Party Leaders 266 Appendix 3 Selected quotes 268 Appendix 4 Labour Votes at General Elections 273 Appendix 5 Campaign Chronology 274 Appendix 6 Labour Party Leadership results announced 12 September 2015 277 Appendix 7 Miliband and Corbyn buzzwords 278

Reviews

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A gripping, well-crafted insight into Labour's failures. - Mark Aitken, Sunday Mail

Author Information

IAIN WATSON is a BBC Political Correspondent who works across TV, radio and online. He reports regularly for Radio 4’s Today programme and previously for BBC2’s Newsnight and the flagship BBC1 political show On the Record. He extensively covered both the 2010 and 2015 general elections, spending the entire campaigns ‘on the road’. He also covered the Scottish referendum. Despite being Westminster editor of the Sunday Herald, he was delighted to decamp to Edinburgh to cover the first elections to the Scottish parliament in 1999. He lives in London with his wife and son.

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