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The Quest for a Great Labour Party1

This essay examines the political strategy and ruling ideas of the British Labour party through an assessment of David Marquand’s biography of Ramsay Macdonald and his analysis of the progressive dilemma which Macdonald’s life illustrates. It explores Macdonald’s attempt to create a Great Labour Party modelled on the Great Liberal Party of the nineteenth century. This was a party which had national and cross-class appeal uniting many sections of society, including intellectuals, behind a progressive alternative. The critics of Macdonald argued that class interest and class struggle should be the basis of Labour politics. Macdonald started a profound debate over the purpose and strategy of Labour which has recurred in every period of the party’s history.