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The Wild Men book cover
The Wild Men
The Remarkable Story of Britain's First Labour Government
2024
First Published
3.80
Average Rating
336
Number of Pages

The incredible story of the first Labour administration and the 'wild men' who shook up the British establishment. In 1923, four short years since the end of the First World War, and after the passing of the Act which gave all men the vote, an inconclusive election result and the prospect of a constitutional crisis opened the door for a radically different sort of government: men from working-class backgrounds who had never before occupied the corridors of power at Westminster. The Wild Men tells the story of that first Labour administration - its unexpected birth, fraught existence, and controversial downfall - through the eyes of those who found themselves in the House of Commons, running the country for the people. Blending biography and history into a compelling narrative, David Torrance reassesses the UK's first Labour government a century after it shook up a British establishment still reeling from the War - and how the establishment eventually fought back. This is an extraordinary period in British political history which echoes down the years to our current politics and laid the foundations for the Britain of today.

Avg Rating
3.80
Number of Ratings
166
5 STARS
15%
4 STARS
53%
3 STARS
30%
2 STARS
2%
1 STARS
1%
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Author

David Torrance
Author · 9 books
David Torrance is Devolution and Constitution Specialist at the House of Commons Library. He was formerly a freelance writer, broadcaster and journalist, reporting on the Scottish Parliament for STV, and contributing political commentary to a wide range of publications including The Scotsman, The Herald and The Times. He is the author of several books on Scottish politics, the best known being his unauthorised biographies of Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond. He is the author of Standing up for Scotland: Nationalist Unionism and Scottish Party Politics, 1884–2014 (Edinburgh University Press, 2020) and the editor of Ruth Davidson's Conservatives: The Scottish Tory Party, 2011–19 (Edinburgh University Press, 2020) and Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland (Edinburgh University Press, 2012).
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