Labour and the Countryside The Politics of Rural Britain 1918-1939

The common reputation of the British Labour Party has always been as 'athing of the town', an essentially urban phenomenon which has failed to engagewith the rural electorate or identify itself with rural issues. Yet during theinter-war years, Labour viewed the countryside as a crucial electoralbattleground - even claiming that the party could never form a majorityadministration without winning a significant number of seats across ruralBritain. Committing itself to a series of campaigns in rural areas during the1920s and 30s, Labour developed a rural and often specifically agriculturalprogramme on which to attract new support and members. Labour and theCountryside takes this forgotten chapter in the party's history as a startingpoint for a fascinating and wide-ranging re-examination of the relationshipbetween the British Left and rural Britain. The first account of this aspect of Labour's history, this book draws onextensive research across a wide variety of original source material, from localparty minutes and trade union archives to the records of Labour's first twoperiods in government. Historical, literary, and visual representations of thecountryside are also examined, along with newspapers, magazines, and propagandamaterials. In reconstructing the contexts within which Labour attempted toredefine itself as a voice for the countryside, the resulting study presents afresh perspective on the political history of the inter-war years.