James Callaghan Articles

This book is the third in an impressive series on political leadership in Britain’s mainstream parties which we owe to an imaginative initiative of Charles Clarke’s. Though the books make good reading for anyone interested in politics, this sustained reflection by...

I interviewed Denis Healey as part of the research for my biography of Aneurin Bevan in February 2011. He immediately seized on Bevan’s remark that ‘the right kind of leader for the Labour party is a kind of dessicated calculating-machine’. While Clement Attlee was...

At the last five general elections the British public has voted in favour of a prime minister who offers centrism, charisma, competence and confidence. Labour’s response to this has been to replace Ed Miliband with Jeremy Corbyn. For some it may be difficult to know...

Labour can no longer let its intellectual conservatism hold it back, writes David Butler Labour finds itself within a gilded cage of intellectual conservatism. The party must understand and offer solutions to a range of complex issues: the productivity puzzle and...