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This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This book looks at how the British Labour Party came to terms with the 1960's 'cultural revolution', specifically changes to: the class structure, place of women, black immigration, the generation gap and calls for direct political participation

How has British democracy been represented in novels, plays and films in a century of political turbulence? Steven Fielding offers the first book length study of the fictionalisation of British politics during the rise, consolidation and apparent fall of party politics

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. A State of Play explores how the British have imagined their politics, from the parliament worship of Anthony Trollope to the cynicism of The Thick of It. In an account that mixes historical with political analysis, Steven Fielding argues that fictional depictions of politics have played an important but insidious part in shaping how the British think about their democracy and have helped ventilate their many frustrations with Westminster. He shows that dramas and fictions have also performed a significant role in the battle of ideas, in a way undreamt of by those who draft party manifestos. The book examines the work of overtly political writers have treated the subject, discussing the novels of H.G. Wells, the comedy series Yes, Minister and the plays of David Hare. However, it also assesses how less obvious sources, such as the films of George Formby, the novels of Agatha Christie, the Just William stories and situation comedies like Steptoe and Son, have reflected on representative democracy. A State of Play is an invaluable, distinctive and engaging guide to a new way of thinking about Britain's political past and present.

This book is the first in the new series 'The Labour governments', 1964-70 and concentrates on Britain's domestic policy during Harold Wilson's tenure as Prime Minister. The book deals, in particular, with how the Labour government and Labour party as a whole tried to come to terms with the 1960s 'cultural revolution'. It is grounded in original research, takes unique account of responses from Labour's grass roots and from Wilson's ministerial colleagues, and constructs a 'total history' of the party at this critical moment in history. Steven Fielding situates Labour in its wider cultural context and focuses on how the party approached issues such as the apparent transformation of the class structure, the changing place of women, rising black immigration, the apparently widening generation gap and increasing calls for direct participation in politics. The book will be of interest to all those concerned with the development of contemporary British politics and society as well as those researching the 1960s. Together with the other books in the series, on international policy and economic policy, it provides an unrivalled insight into the development of Britain under Harold Wilson's government.

This book is the first in the new series The Labour governments, 1964-70 and concentrates on Britain's domestic policy during Harold Wilson's tenure as Prime Minister. The book deals, in particular, with how the Labour government and Labour party as a whole tried to come to terms with the 1960s 'cultural revolution'. It is grounded in original research, takes unique account of responses from Labour's grass roots and from Wilson's ministerial colleagues, and constructs a 'total history' of the party at this critical moment in history. Steven Fielding situates Labour in its wider cultural context and focuses on how the party approached issues such as the apparent transformation of the class structure, the changing place of women, rising black immigration, the apparently widening generation gap and increasing calls for direct participation in politics. The book will be of interest to all those concerned with the development of contemporary British politics and society as well as those researching the 1960s. Together with the other books in the series, on international policy and economic policy, it provides an unrivalled insight into the development of Britain under Harold Wilson's government.

AbstractMost of those trying to assess what Keir Starmer stands for and how he plans to achieve his objectives are too impressed by an understanding of Thatcherism associated with Stuart Hall. That is one reason why they complain that Starmerism is little more than an empty space. But other less heroic ways of thinking about a leader's 'ism' are available and using a more multidimensional approach, this article assesses the evolution of Starmerism through his successful campaign to be leader of a divided party and his first year as leader of the opposition. On that basis it suggests that Starmerism as currently articulated is close to a 'Corbynism with the brakes on', although if it is to resonate with the public, Starmer himself needs to adopt some of the rhetorical tools associated with Wilsonism at its peak.

Most of those trying to assess what Keir Starmer stands for and how he plans to achieve his objectives are too impressed by an understanding of Thatcherism associated with Stuart Hall. That is one reason why they complain that Starmerism is little more than an empty space. But other less heroic ways of thinking about a leader's 'ism' are available and using a more multidimensional approach, this article assesses the evolution of Starmerism through his successful campaign to be leader of a divided party and his first year as leader of the opposition. On that basis it suggests that Starmerism as currently articulated is close to a 'Corbynism with the brakes on', although if it is to resonate with the public, Starmer himself needs to adopt some of the rhetorical tools associated with Wilsonism at its peak.

Due to the difficult methodological issues it presents, political historians are wary of using television - the most important mass medium of the later twentieth century - as a means of exploring vernacular political thinking. Attempting to show how television audiences were encouraged to think politically, the article outlines a method generated through an engagement with the work of disciplines beyond history, to help political historians more systematically assess the medium's popular impact. The article takes as its case study Britain during the 1970s, one of the most ideologically contested periods in the country's history. It analyses how television critics employed by the Daily Mirror and Daily Express encouraged their millions of readers to respond to the dramas of socialist playwrights Jim Allen and Trevor Griffiths, thereby giving historians an insight into the shape of those conversations spawned by their work, such private dialogues being the place where the full political meaning of television was ultimately created.

Research Highlights and Abstract: The article explores attitudes to New Labour in particular and politics in general through analysing their dramatization on TV. It indicates that such dramatizations are almost wholly negative, focusing on sleaze, spin and betrayal. The article explains the character of such dramas as being the result of the producers' desire to present politics in terms their audiences will accept. It suggests that, as a consequence, popular hostility to politics is reinforced by television drama and so indicates that culture has an independent part to play in this process. Echoing Plato's banishment of artists, mainstream political scientists have excluded serious consideration of art from their discipline. Yet, there are grounds for believing that it can help address what Gerry Stoker suggests is one of social science's greatest failings: understanding 'what politics means to citizens'. This study of New Labour's television dramatization suggests it can help political scientists better appreciate the dynamics underpinning the much-noted decline of popular trust in representative politics. It looks at the reasons for the narrowing of the public's picture of politics by focusing on the changing production context for television drama during the New Labour period, something that led it to emphasise 'sleaze'. The article suggests such dramas consequently helped make more credible the public's pre-existing prejudices about what they supposed was the corrupt nature of Britain's political class. Adapted from the source document.