Written at a critical juncture in the history of the Labour Party, Speak for Britain! is a thought-provoking & highly original interpretation of the party's evolution, from its trade union origins to its status as a national governing party. It charts Labour's rise to power by re-examining the impact of the First World War, the general strike of 1926, Labour's breakthrough at the 1945 general election, the influence of post-war affluence & consumerism on the fortunes & character of the party, & its revival after the defeats of the Thatcher era. Controversially, Pugh argues that Labour never entirely succeeded in becoming 'the party of the working class'; many of its influential recruits
- from Oswald Mosley to Hugh Gaitskell to Tony Blair
- were from middle & upper-class Conservative backgrounds & rather than converting the working class to socialism, Labour adapted itself to local & regional political cultures.