Labour politicians, activists and supporters

In the fi rst edition of this book, Chapter 7 had a question as its title, a question that, with later editions, became increasingly less appropriate: ‘Who are the socialists?’ Nowadays such a question might prompt a similar response to the famous rhetorical Scots question: ‘Wha’s like us?’ The customary response is: ‘Damn few and they’re a’ deid!’ Socialism, once claimed as the dominant ideology of half of the world, now seems to be dead, and in Britain the few socialists who remain in local and national politics are without infl uence. So instead we shall be more prosaic and simply examine the social and ideological background of Labour politicians, activists and supporters.