Labour's identity crisis: Lessons from the past
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2021
⏱️ 32 minutes
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Summary
The devastating results for Labour at the Hartlepool by-election have made it clearer than ever that the party is facing an existential crisis. But it's not the first time that Labour has been confused about its identity and purpose. What can Labour's past tell us about the party's future?
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Guest: Steven Fielding, Professor of Political History at Nottingham University and co-author of The Churchill Myths.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips used: ITV, Sky, BBC, The Daily Mail.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The results of the Hartley-Paul by-election were devastating for labour. |
| 0:06.0 | A historic defeat that lost the party a safe seat they'd held for 62 years. |
| 0:13.0 | The latest in a tsunami of labour heartlands turning Tory. |
| 0:18.0 | The Red Wall being painted blue. |
| 0:21.0 | It's left many questioning who the modern labour party is for. |
| 0:27.0 | Who does it represent? |
| 0:29.0 | People are sick of labour, so they want to change. |
| 0:32.0 | I mean, all the still works close down or we've seen up here with job losses. |
| 0:35.0 | We've never seen no new investment. |
| 0:37.0 | We've never seen any benefits. |
| 0:39.0 | People are just sick, sick of labour. |
| 0:42.0 | Obviously, things you know aren't getting done. |
| 0:45.0 | That's why everybody's voted conservative this time. |
| 0:48.0 | It's not the first time the labour party has been plunged into an existential crisis. |
| 0:55.0 | The labour history is pitted with periods like people are saying, oh you've finished, you've got no purpose, you're irrelevant. |
| 1:02.0 | We speak to a historian of the labour party for a quick guide to the history of labour over the past 50 years. |
| 1:08.0 | The crises that have shaped the party's identity and shaped the conversation around who and what the party stands for. |
| 1:17.0 | There will always be the need for a labour party. |
| 1:21.0 | It will not be the same labour party in 20 years time. |
| 1:23.0 | The labour party today is at the same as it was 20 years. |
| 1:26.0 | New labour wasn't the same as the party 20 years before that. |
| 1:29.0 | You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times. |
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