Labor Party

On January 20, 1942, fifteen men arrived for a meeting in a luxurious villa on the shores of the Wannsee in the far-western outskirts of Berlin. They came at the invitation of Reinhard Heydrich and were almost all high-ranking Nazi Party, government, and SS officials. But the beauty of the situation stood in stark contrast to the purpose of the meeting to which the fifteen had come in January 1942: the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.”

In Quarterly Essay 100, Sean Kelly considers the enigma of the Albanese government. With wide yet shallow support, will it change the country? Does it have big ideas, or is it content just to become "the natural party of government"? Kelly gives a definitive account of Albanese's political style and asks what lies behind it. In speaking to a fragmented, disengaged electorate, the Prime Minister places a high value on moderation.

Labour has shifted from the New Left, to New Labour, to Corbynista Labour. Now, it may see power again with a most unlikely group of activists from the 1970s becoming the fourth generation to win power since 1945. Only Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair have won power from a sitting Conservative government. Of the 10 general elections since 1979, Labour has won three, all under Blair. This record of failure, if applied to any other walk of life, would raise the fundamental question of why continue to fight a losing battle?

‘I am an agitator. My work has consisted of trying to stir up divine discontent with wrong’. Before Keir Starmer, Labour’s seventh Prime Minister, there was Keir Hardie, the first leader of the party, born into poverty in Lanarkshire in 1856. Simon Webb’s new book re-tells the story of Hardie’s extraordinary life – the life of a man who began work in a coal-mine at the age of ten, and rose to become a formidable voice against war, injustice, inequality and imperialism.

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Meticulously sourced, merciless and revelatory. It is a closely observed study of power, and how it is gained, used and lost' FINANCIAL TIMES The unmissable next instalment of Tim Shipman’s #1 bestselling Brexit quartet. To follow his bestselling books...

Brought to you by Penguin. Get In is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of Labour’s brutal reinvention and dramatic return to power under Keir Starmer. From electoral wipeout in 2019 to landslide victory in 2024 and on into Labour’s first hundred days in government, Get In is a...

In the 21st century the Labour Party has undergone the most extraordinary transformation in its history. After more than a decade of political dominance, the party lost two consecutive general elections and found its leadership usurped by the obscure far-left MP Jeremy Corbyn. As Britain voted to leave the EU, Labour seemed destined for long-term irrelevance. But then it all changed. Far from being the death of the party, as many had predicted, at one fell stroke the general election of 2017 heralded its strange and unexpected rebirth.

How Labour took power and what they're doing with it 'Taken As Red stands out for its balance and the depth of its reporting' The Guardian 'Revelatory and insightful.' Tim Shipman In Taken As Red acclaimed political journalist Anushka Asthana takes us behind the scenes of the 2024 general...

Menzies and Evatt are painted in their strengths and flaws, with their shared endeavours and their irreconcilable differences and with their competing views of Australia and the world. Anne Henderson’s account is fresh and compelling, a study in the triumphs, tribulations and tragedies that are the nature of politics.– Dr Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian Liberal Party founder and long-serving prime minister Robert (Bob) Menzies along with Labor foreign minister and attorney-general Bert (the Doc) Evatt were two of the biggest names in 20th century Australian politics. The ...

Jamaica’s exquisite beauty that encompasses verdant hillsides, rolling plains, pristine coastal areas dotted with white-sand beaches incessantly caressed by the wind and bathed by turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, plus the ‘Irie vibes’ of Jamaicans collectively conspire to make the Island a unique place on planet Earth. Political independence from Britain in 1962 ignited hope of a better future for all Jamaicans. Indeed, Jamaica made significant early progress, was regarded as the ‘Pearl of the Caribbean’ and a positive example for newly-independent countries. But now, alas, ...

* AN OBSERVER AND DAILY MAIL "BOOKS OF 2022" PICK * Melvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which lyrically evokes a vanished world. In this captivating memoir, Melvyn Bragg recalls growing up in the Cumbrian market town of Wigton, from...

A recent history of the Democratic Party that identifies its chronic errors—the “pathologies” of the New Democratic mindset—and argues urgently against a return to the status quo Why did the Democrats initially abandon their principles, and why haven’t they been able to grasp that they...

Why is it so much easier for the Democratic Party to win the national popular vote than to build and maintain a majority in Congress? Why can Democrats sweep statewide offices in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan yet fail to take control of the same states' legislatures? Many place exclusive blame on partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression. But as political scientist Jonathan A. Rodden demonstrates in Why Cities Lose, the left's electoral challenges have deeper roots in economic and political geography.

The Prison Letters of Countess Markievicz were first published in 1932 as a classic of feminist literature. Now restored to their original form by leading Markievicz expert, Lindie Naughton, this new edition features previously unpublished letters that Markievicz sent to family members and friends, offering a unique insight into her extraordinary life. After escaping the firing squad for her part in the 1916 Easter Rising, she was sentenced to life imprisonment and transferred to Mountjoy Jail and later sent to other prisons including Holloway in London and Cork Jail. Through these letters,...

The country’s exquisite beauty comprising verdant hillsides, rolling plains, pristine coastal areas dotted with white-sand beaches that are incessantly caressed by the wind and bathed by turquoise waters, plus the exuberant vibes of its people and its status as a cultural superpower all conspire to make it a veritable paradise. But, alas, corruption has hobbled its development and is one of the variables that explain a significant portion of its failures and underperformance since the paradisical country profiled in this book gained political independence from its former colonial master, ...

From the dark arts of the dirt units to the role of billionaire Clive Palmer, this is the untold story of an election debacle. The Labor Party was the unbeatable favourite to win the 2019 election right up until the polls closed and voters delivered the surprise verdict. If the results staggered pundits, they also shocked Bill Shorten and his frontbench, who had spent the final weeks of the campaign carefully planning for their first days in office. Party Animals uncovers the secret history of a Labor fiasco, the untold story behind Scott Morrison's miracle.

There is an old world fading out with a new world coming in. This story represents where the two worlds meet. Steelworker, Geronimo 'Mo" Fields, is unexpectedly placed into leadership as a union steward and questions his future in the steel industry as he tries to deescalate tension between a supervisor and angry co-workers that want to strike while contract negotiations with the company are about to expire.

What if a quarter of your elected leaders - including five party heads - were secretly tied to pro-China communists, Cuban revolutionaries, militant Marxists and hardcore Māori separatists? US-based Kiwi investigator Trevor Loudon has done the research and brings the receipts. In Godzone Enemies: Socialists and Revolutionaries in the New Zealand Parliament, Loudon rips the veil off Labour, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori, exposing how tiny, Marxist groups and foreign-backed radicals have hijacked our halls of power. Backed by 40+ pages of ironclad references - from long-hidden communist ...

Surviving childhood sexual abuse and bullying, the author worked for the Labour party during the turbulent 70s and 80s, rubbing shoulders with future prime minsters before discovering a new life at an Oxford college. A life of real drama, facing traumas of grief and mental illness yet awash with love and contentment.

Brought to you by Penguin. We all want to know what on earth is going on. Why real wages are flatlining but taxes are rising, and public services are still collapsing. Why our children can’t afford a house and our neighbours are using foodbanks. We are all yearning for a way out of the...