How Labour Wins: (And Why It Loses) from 1900 to Now

HOW LABOUR WINS is a book about the pursuit of power for working people. In assessing the fortunes of the Labour Party through the unfolding drama of each election from 1900 to the present day, it asks a simple overarching question - how does Labour win and why does it lose? The Labour Party has been out of power for almost fifteen years and lost four consecutive elections since 2010 during turbulent times which have been defined by austerity, a Scottish independence referendum, Brexit, and the rise and fall of Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson. Now, under Keir Starmer, the Party has been ahead in the opinion polls for over two years, while the Conservatives have imploded. How do the lessons of past elections inform us about what Starmer must do to maximise the chances of victory? With exclusive insights from former leaders and Prime Ministers - including Gordon Brown and Neil Kinnock - HOW LABOUR WINS provides voters with a vital guide to the 2024 election by delving deep into the secrets of long forgotten campaigns, tracing the Party’s roots, examining the strategies, leaders, transformative moments and missteps which have defined Labour at the ballot box and shaped modern Britain.

Douglas Beattie grew up in Dumfriesshire, studied politics at Glasgow University and is an award-winning former BBC journalist, author and Labour insider. He has first-hand experience of elections having stood for Parliament as the Scottish Labour candidate for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale in the 2017 General Election and also been a Labour councillor. He now lives in London and works as a trade union media and political director. Douglas Beattie is fascinated by tribal divisions and his previous book is an acclaimed history of British football derbies, The Rivals Game