Labour was founded, not to bring about socialism – that came later with the 1918 Fabian-authored Clause IV, but to put working-class people into parliament. Initially groups like the National Union of Miners stayed with the Liberal party, hoping for scraps off the table. Soon it was clear that only Labour was committed to this first fundamental aim; the NUM...

Well, that escalated quickly. When he entered the Labour leadership election, Jeremy Corbyn was best known to historians of British parliamentary rebellions. While he has long been a doughty campaigner for the British left, they had not seen him as being at the very front rank of their depleted ranks. In past elections, John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and Michael Meacher have...

An old adage has it that a rightwing politician who ‘borrows’ progressive ideas is smart, while a social democrat who takes a leaf out of the book of commonsense conservatism is a traitor. Political parties are not pressure groups. Their aim is not to press government to make changes, but to be in government and make those changes. I have been leader of...