The shape of things to come: labour’s new thinking

Book

After the 1970s it was inevitable that the Conservative party would move away from the postwar consensus, but it was Margaret Thatcher who made it Thatcherite. In the 1990s Labour was bound to be centrist; but Blair and Brown gave New Labour its distinctive shape.

After the banking crisis Labour was bound to reflect a public mood more critical of neo-liberal economics, and less confident about big state spending, but Labour in 2012 will also be shaped by the particular politics and personality of Ed Miliband.

Since becoming Labour leader Ed Miliband has successfully opened several new national political debates, from the ‘squeezed middle’ to ‘responsible capitalism’ and concern about diminishing opportunities for the rising generation. These essays explore where this politics could take Labour – and there is a striking coherence, radicalism and optimism about the future they see.

Published with the financial support of the European Parliament by the FEPS and the Fabians Society. Edited by John Denham. Foreword by Ernst Stetter with chapters by David Clark, Rowenna Davis, Helen Goodman, Kate Green, Andrew Harrop, Will Hutton, Rick Muir, Nick Pecorelli, Matthew Pennycook, Rachel Reeves, Marc Stears, Chuka Umunna and Kitty Ussher.