Since Attlee & Churchill

In July 1948, just as the National Health Service was coming into being, Aneurin Bevan delivered a speech in which he declared that the Conservatives were “lower than vermin”. But rather than take offence, thousands of Tories decided to embrace the insult - and the Vermin Club was born. In this episode of Since Attlee & Churchill, Richard and Lee explore the curious history of a political organisation that attracted as many as 120,000 members, including a young Margaret Thatcher. Why did Bevan make his infamous attack? How did the Conservatives turn his words into a badge of honour? And why was the Tory leadership so reluctant to embrace a movement that seemed to have captured the imagination of its own supporters?

The following books are mentioned in this episode:

'Huntingtower' by John Buchan. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9780199537860
'Fruit Fly' by Josh Silver. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781836431473

NEW EVENT: Come along for a live version of Since Attlee & Churchill at the Buckinghamshire History Festival on 14th November in High Wycombe. Find out more here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/since-attlee-churchill-live-chequers-confidential-tickets-1993124324508?aff=oddtdtcreator

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
***
Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s 'Matters of Interest', Lee and Richard share their reflections from Oslo, where they’ve been researching how politicians get their policy advice in different parliamentary systems. After a visit to the Storting, Norway’s parliament, they reflect on the differences between Norwegian and British politics, from proportional representation and party discipline to the relationship between MPs and their constituents. What can we learn from the Norwegian experience, and what might be lost if Britain tried to follow its example? Then Richard tells the story of Samuel Gompers, the British-born trade unionist who became one of the most influential figures in American labour history, but remains largely forgotten in his homeland.

NEW EVENT: Come along for a live version of Since Attlee & Churchill at the Buckinghamshire History Festival on 14th November in High Wycombe. Find out more here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/since-attlee-churchill-live-chequers-confidential-tickets-1993124324508?aff=oddtdtcreator

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
***
Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Since Attlee & Churchill, Richard and Lee explore Labour's long and often fraught relationship with the judiciary. From the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the Taff Vale case to Michael Foot's criticisms of judges in the 1970s, why did the Labour movement so often see the courts as an instrument of the establishment, standing in the way of working-class progress? Richard explains how Labour's historic commitment to parliamentary sovereignty was shaped by the struggle to overcome judicial rulings. Lee, meanwhile, wonders whether Labour's hostility to judges was simply a reflection of the party's political impotence and/or incompetence. They finish by considering why and when Labour's view changed and how the party learned to love the British and European judiciaries.

In this episode, the following books are mentioned:

'The House of Commons: An Anthropology of MPs at Work' by Emma Crewe. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781474234573

'The Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics'. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9780198888581

Find out more about our new 'Right Honourable Friend' Patreon membership here: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
***
Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Matters of Interest, Richard and Lee reflect on the Conservative Party Conference and consider what it says about the role of Kemi Badenoch, with Lee arguing she is — rarely for the Conservatives in recent years — a leader who is wholly secure in her position. But what will Badenoch's strategy for the Conservatives be? Next, Richard introduces the 'sewer socialists' of Milwaukee, the American socialists who built a hugely successful political movement by concentrating less on Marxist theory and more on improving the lives of working people.

Find out more about our new 'Right Honourable Friend' Patreon membership here: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
***
Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Tony Blair’s New Labour government came to power in 1997, it promised a referendum on changing the voting system for the House of Commons. It then appointed the political grandee Roy Jenkins to work out what an alternative might look like. The Jenkins Commission reported its proposals for a new electoral system in 1998, but the referendum was never held.

With electoral reform once again high on the political agenda, in this episode Lee and Richard revisit the last time a Labour government seriously considered changing the way Britain elects its MPs. They look at the long history of the electoral reform debate, from attempts to change the voting system in the early 20th century to Labour’s growing interest in PR in the 1990s. And they examine the Jenkins Commission, Tony Blair’s scepticism about electoral reform, and the political calculations that ultimately saw New Labour quietly abandon its pledge of a referendum.

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
***
Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.