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SHORE,PETER: : LEADING the LEFT.[Author's personal SIGNED copy.]

LONDON.WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON,1993.

ISBN 0297810960.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn.FINE/FINE. Author's own personal edn with his own, pasted in to recto of half-title,his ex-libris bookplate SIGNED in blue ink,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Also laid-in loose and opposite; his own horizontally half-folded House of Commons parliamentary 'With Compliments' slip.Bright,crisp,clean,matt black background with glossy superimposed parliament portcullis design illustrated dw/dj,with 4 Labour Party leaders' thumbnail,contemporary b/w portrait photographs each to each dw/dj panel,with white+red white lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present. Inevitable but superficial light scoring to rear panel,but without affecting bds beneath.Top+fore-edges generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp, clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original, plain black cloth bds with bright,crisp, stamped silver gilt letters to spine/ backstrip and immaculate plain white eps. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED 1st edn,v-vipp+1-218pp [paginated] includes contents list/table with acknowledgements to it's recto,an introduction,8 chapters,an epilogue,biblio,notes and an index,plus [unpaginated] half-title page with author/ owner's personal pasted,SIGNED Ex-libris bookplate to recto and the title page. The fourth consecutive Conservative General Election victory in April 1992, which occured despite the ending of the 'Thatcher era' and the grim economic problems that followed,marked a catastrophic defeat for the Labour Party. Despite a vigorous campaign and Kinnock's partial success in reuniting his party, Labour won only 35% of the popular vote. Labour had not yet managed to live down its past,dominated through most of the last thirteen years (then 1993) by disputes over its constitution,policies, accountability,the election of a leader and the re-selection of MPs - bitter struggles which had resulted in the formation of a third party,the Social Democrats,and a continuing loss of electoral support. Peter Shore,a Labour MP since 1964 and a former Cabinet Minister,has examined the performance of the Labour Party over the last sixty years (then 1993) and located these recent struggles within a longer panorama of internal turbulence,which has been a source of continuous distraction for every leader of the party.In his elegant and informative account of the eight Labour leaders since Ramsay MacDonald,he considers a range of men who differed greatly in intellect,ability, class and belief but all of whose leadership was coloured by their efforts to maintain cohesion and support of their own Party members. From Lansbury,Attlee and Gaitskell, through Wilson,Callaghan and Foot,right up to Kinnock and Smith,he focuses on each leader's ability to hold the confidence of the Parliamentary Labour Party,win the support of the nation,and manage the Party in the country - the unions,the constituency parties and their representatives on the NEC.This triple task is one which few of the eight have been able successfully to undertake. Widely recognised as one of the most thoughtful and prominent Labour politicians,Peter Shore is in a unique position to pursue the theme that he has chosen for this book. For more than thirty years,he was at the centre of Labour Party politics,first at Party HQ where he was Head of Research under Gaitskell and Wilson,later as a Cabinet Minister in the Wilson and Callaghan Governments and finally as either a colleague in Cabinet or in Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot,Neil Kinnock and John Smith. Peter Shore's concise,fascinating history of the Labour Party through its eight most recent leaders and his penetrating analysis of the power structure of the Labour Party answers many questions about British politics in our lifetime - and raises still more about the Party's future. Peter David Shore,Baron Shore of Stepney (created in 1997 dissolution honours,after standing down as MP in the 1997 election).Elected MP for Stepney in 1964. Died September 2001. He joined the Labour Party in 1948.He had worked in various departments,rising to Secretary of State for Economic Affairs from 1967-69,Secretary of State for Trade from 1974-76 and Secretary of State for the Environment from 1976-79. In Opposition,he had served as Shadow Foreign Secretary,Shadow Chancellor and from 1984-87 as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.An unsual and highly personal association copy/edn and an uncommon and unique SIGNED item. Since April 2013,and again in March 2015, the UK Post Office has increased it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering its weight allowances,dimensions and lowered its qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact seller,because of the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1s edn.
Author SIGNED personal ex-libris bookplate

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