Labour and the countryside : the politics of rural Britain 1918-1939 / Clare V.J. Griffiths.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Griffiths, Clare V. J.

Series:

Oxford historical monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labour Party (Great Britain).

Country life--Political aspects--Great Britain.

Country life.

Rural conditions.

Country life--Political aspects.

Great Britain--Rural conditions--20th century.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xv, 404 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

The common reputation of the British Labour Party has always been as 'a thing of the town', an essentially urban phenomenon which has failed to engage with the rural electorate or identify itself with rural issues. Yet during the inter-war years, Labour viewed the countryside as a crucial electoral battleground-even claiming that the party could never form a majority administration without winning a significant number of seats across rural Britain. Committing itself to a series of campaigns in rural areas during the 1920s and 30s, Labour developed a rural and often specifically agricultural programme on which to attract new support and members. Labour and the Countryside takes this forgotten chapter in the party's history as a starting point for a fascinating and wide-ranging re-examination of the relationship between the British Left and rural Britain.

The first account of this aspect of Labour's history, this book draws on extensive research across a wide variety of original source material, from local party minutes and trade union archives to the records of Labour's first two periods in government. Historical, literary, and visual representations of the countryside are also examined, along with newspapers, magazines, and propaganda materials. In reconstructing the contexts within which Labour attempted to redefine itself as a voice for the countryside, the resulting study presents a fresh perspective on the political history of the inter-war years.

Contents:

Introduction: An Electoral Problem 1

Ludlow, April 1923 1

'A Thing of the Town' 3

'The Key to Power': Electoral Arithmetic 8

Defining 'Rural' Constituencies 15

I Political Landscapes

1 Dispossession: Rural Histories on the Left 25

Merrie England 25

Who stole the Land? 29

Golden Ages 33

The Uses of History 40

Radical Chronologies 44

2 Voters in a Landscape 51

'Another world' 51

Images of Rural Life 52

Rural Society and Political Culture 57

Political Opponents 67

Prospects for the Future 70

Interpretations 74

3 Rural Idylls 79

Ramsay MacDonald Goes Rambling 80

Folk Tradition and the British Left 82

Anti-urbanism 84

Hiking, Camping, and Cycling for Socialism 88

Access 95

Woodcraft 97

Images of the Countryside 100

II The Rural Labour Movement

4 Campaigning in the Countryside 109

Pioneers 109

Election Campaigns 110

National Campaigns 114

The Labour Party's Rural Drives 117

The Campaigns at Local Level 125

Propaganda and Pleasure 129

How to Campaign in the Countryside 133

5 The Rural Labour Parties 142

Organization 142

Party Formation 145

Membership 147

The Role of Trade Unionism 156

The Candidate 160

Funding 166

The Agent 169

Grumbles and Grievances 174

6 Trade Unionism in Rural Areas 178

Heritage 178

Unionization and Employment in Rural Areas 182

Agricultural Trade Unions in England and Wales 187

The Scottish Farm Servants 198

The Challenges of Organization 202

Workers and Labourers 207

III Planning the Future

7 Policies for Agriculture 217

'Two voices': Town and Country 217

Policy Making 221

Land Nationalization 230

The 'Prosperous Countryside' 232

Labour in Government 237

Producers vs Consumers 243

Food and Farming 249

A 'National' Policy 253

8 Labour and the Farmers 258

Farming and the Labour Movement 258

'Better Farming' 262

Large-Scale Cultivation 265

Smallholding 270

'A Public Service 274

Farmers and Their Politics 277

The Farmer's Friend 281

A New Constituency? 285

9 A Land for the People 291

The New Model Village 292

New Landscapes 298

The Land Question Revisited 301

Planning 305

A Landscape for Leisure 309

Conclusion: Reclaiming the Ground? 316

Brecon and Radnor, August 1939 316

Socialism in the Villages? 320

The Electoral Record 323

The Country Road to 1945 331

An Epilogue: Ludlow, June 2001 341

Appendix A Labour's 'rural' constituencies 342

Appendix B The rural campaigns 348

Appendix C Labour victories in rural seats, 1918-1945 352.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [362]-382) and index.

ISBN:

0199287430

9780199287437

OCLC:

137325102