The book is like MacShane himself: lively, witty, entertaining, indiscreet, and every so often you can hear the satisfying clunk of an old score being settled.
Francis Beckett, Camden New Journal
His book is personal, political and full of insights. Much of the European left is down and out and Labour must avoid that fate. I hope Labour Party members debate without rancour or sectarian anger what needs to be done. This book is a good starting point.
Polly Toynbee
His account of why Labour is so good at losing elections is fascinating reading. What to do to get Labour back into power is a central question if we don’t want to live in a one party state.
Steve Richards, journalist and presenter
Since 1970, Labour has won power in just 4 of the 14 general elections. This angry, passionate book asks why Labour is so good at losing elections and so unhappy and edgy when it does win.
Denis MacShane joined the Labour Party in 1970, and has held every office at local party level. He stood for the Commons aged 26. He served as an MP for 18 years and was Minister of State for Europe. He draws on experience, meetings with Labour leaders from Jim Callaghan to Jeremy Corbyn, and his personal diaries kept when in the Commons as he tries to answer the question: Why is Labour so keen on fighting internal battles and so useless at winning power?
Based on the hard lessons he’s learned, MacShane offers pragmatic suggestions for turning Labour into a party of power as well as protest.
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