I first met Philip Gould in 1985. He bounded in, shirt hanging out, tripping over his words, papers awry: organograms, status reports, and action updates all bashed out with two fingers on his Amstrad. Previously, advisers had advised. Gould got things done.
Today he still exudes the same passion and energy. He decided to update The Unfinished Revolution after Olympian Brendan Foster urged him to ‘write it all down’ following the devastating diagnosis from medics treating his cancer. I doubt he really needed the encouragement. Gould was always a man on a mission.
The new edition recounts the years in government. There is also a foreword by Tony Blair. Volume One, first published in 1998, remains a seminal work. It is as insightful a history of the birth and early success of New Labour as you will find anywhere. A blueprint for modern political campaigning, it has become the politico’s bible.
Volume Two is the same mix of diary, focus group notes, and insightful analysis – it includes reflections on the electorate’s changing mindset, exploration of New Labour’s central themes, and personal observations about the key players. In the last of these, Gould is eager to tie up loose ends, set the record straight. Praise is lavished on friends, disagreements resolved kindly.
Gould was usually in a hurry, now more than ever. There is much to do and time is scarce. While Volume One covers 13 years in opposition in 393 pages, Volume Two describes 13 years, in government in just 140. It lacks the former’s painstaking thoroughness but is nevertheless a compelling combination of personal memoir, campaigning how-to and political theory. Like its author, it is complex, fascinating, occasionally frustrating.
Gould calls it his ‘letter to the next generation’. It is a message of hope, and a challenge to finish the job. It is easy to forget that when he and I worked together all those years ago Labour had been written off. Yet, and in no small part due to the voter-focused campaigning he instigated, we went on to win big. The party would never be the same – politics too was changed for ever.
Blair’s foreword is didactic in tone but ends on a positive note: ‘optimism and hope inspire’. If only Gould could now defy his doctors just as he defied those who had written off Labour. His legacy, though, is with us already.
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Deborah Mattinson is director of BritainThinks and a former pollster for the Labour party
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The Unfinished Revolution: How New Labour Changed British Politics Forever | Philip Gould
Abacus | 594pp | £12.99