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Loading... Labour takes power (2023)by Denis MacShane
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 This diary of the first Blair parliament is very much of its rather boozy, blokey time, and the author (for much of this time a junior Foreign Office bag-carrier) rarely underestimates his own importance. But it's an essential reminder of just how difficult governing is, even after a landslide: within months Blair had suffered a scandal over tobacco sponsorship, a backbench rebellion over benefit cuts, and an early foreign policy dilemma over Iraq, while by the end of the parliament MacShane notes rising tensions over eastern European immigration and what would prove a fatal reluctance to make the pro‑European case. Notable Lists
With the strong possibility of Labour forming our next government in 2024, it is fascinating to consider the last time the party stood on the verge of power, back in 1997. At that time, future Europe Minister Denis MacShane had a ringside seat that he would occupy for the next decade or so, living through the Cool Britannia years, the Good Friday Agreement, Peter Mandelsons two resignations, Princess Dianas death and Tony Blairs seeming invincibility. MacShane was a regular in Downing Street from the moment of Labours election victory, and his indiscreet, gossipy diaries show figures such as Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Robin Cook, Peter Mandelson, Clare Short and Alastair Campbell in a light in which theyve never before been seen, detailing the personalities as much as the politics of Labours most successful stint in government. No library descriptions found. |
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