Labour History

Two decades on, we remember Robin Cook not with sadness alone but with gratitude. Gratitude for a Scottish Labour giant whose example continues to guide us.

The death of David Lipsey while swimming in the River Wye closes an era of Labour history.

On this day in 1900, 129 delegates from trade unions and left-wing organisations gathered in London. They unanimously agreed on a motion by Keir Hardie to establish ‘a distinct Labour group in Parliament’. This meeting also created an…

'The story of John Prescott is the story of the Labour movement of the last half century' writes his former adviser Mike Craven.

Rachel Reeves faces the same challenges as Philip Snowden, Labour's 1931 iron Chancellor, historian Alexander Clifford writes.

Earlier this week government yields – the amount of money governments pay to borrow money – rose to their highest levels since 1998.

“The season’s greetings to all who are remembering that Christ came ‘not to send peace but a sword’ against wrongdoing in all its forms.” This was the pugnacious Christmas greeting once offered by James Keir Hardie, the Labour Party’s first…

2024 is a year for the party history books, seeing the party return to power with one of its most thumping majorities on record. As it's the festive season, we wanted to give you the chance to put your knowledge of Labour history and…

Tributes are flowing in to the former Labour Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, after his family confirmed his death at 86 today.

John Prescott was born into a working-class family in Prestatyn, Wales on May 31, 1938.

In her October 2023 Labour conference speech, Rachel Reeves claimed she would be an iron chancellor who would achieve change “on the basis of iron discipline”.

We are now in the season before conference, when ideas are floated to test support before delegates gather. This annual ritual always throws up both serious and speculative ideas, and this year already there is a big one: whether to elect…