Heroes or Villains?

The Blair Government Reconsidered

Jon Davis and John Rentoul

The complete account of the rise and fall of New Labour, from its hopeful origins, via boom and bust, to the electoral defeat of 2010.
Includes contributions from most of the leading players in the Blair and Brown governments, including: Tony Blair; Alastair Campbell; Peter Mandelson; Ed Balls; David Blunkett; Charles Clarke; Alan Milburn; Tessa Jowell; and a host of senior civil servants.
Traces the evolution of Blairite policy across the spectrum, from health and education to the liberal interventionist foreign policy that led to involvement in Iraq.
Charts the difficult relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown—and how Blair sought to manage it.
Illuminates the ongoing struggles between 'Blairites' and 'Brownites', as well as the equally important tussles between New Labour ministers and their civil service colleagues.
Uses a mass of previously unseen interview material from the seminars of the Blair Government course, convened by the authors of the book.
Sheds light on arguments that remain very much alive today, such as reform of public services, the right course for the Labour Party, and the Iraq War.

New in Paperback

Heroes or Villains?

The Blair Government Reconsidered

Jon Davis and John Rentoul

Description

Tony Blair was the political colossus in Britain for thirteen years, winning three elections in a row for New Labour, two of them by huge majorities. However, since leaving office he has been disowned by many in his own party, with the term 'Blairite' becoming an insult.

The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader in 2015 seemed to be, if not an equal, at least an opposite reaction to Blair's long dominance of the centre and left of British politics. Drawing on new contributions from most of the main players in the Blair government, including Tony Blair himself, Jon Davis and John Rentoul reconsider the history and common view of New Labour against its record of delivering moderate social democracy. They show how New Labour was not one party but two, and how it essentially governed as a coalition, much like the government that followed it.

This book tells the inside story of how Tony Blair worked out, late in the day, his ideas for improving the NHS and school reform; how he groped towards, and was eventually defined by, a foreign policy of liberal interventionism; how he managed a difficult relationship with his Chancellor for ten years; and how Gordon Brown finally took over just as the boom went bust and the New Labour era came to an end. Rentoul and Davis reveal how the governing tribes dealt with each other in the New Labour years: not simply the 'Blairites' and the 'Brownites', but the 'temporary' ministers and the 'permanent', under-reported civil servants who worked alongside them.

Many of the arguments that raged within and around the Blair government of 1997-2007 remain very much alive: reform of public services; the right course for the divided Labour Party; and the Iraq war. The Blair Government Reconsidered aims at a balanced account of how decisions were made, to allow the reader to make up their own mind about controversies that still dominate politics today.

New in Paperback

Heroes or Villains?

The Blair Government Reconsidered

Jon Davis and John Rentoul

Heroes or Villains?

The Blair Government Reconsidered

Jon Davis and John Rentoul

Author Information

Jon Davis, Director of The Strand Group and Lecturer, King's College London, and John Rentoul, Chief Political Commentator for The Independent on Sunday and Visiting Professor at King's College London

Jon Davis and John Rentoul jointly teach a course on the Blair government at King's College London, which began at Queen Mary University of London in 2008.

Dr Jon Davis is Director of The Strand Group at The Policy Institute, King's College London, and author of Prime Ministers and Whitehall (2007). He is the lecturer and coordinator of several other teaching modules including 'The History of the Prime Minister since 1945—in partnership with No. 10 Downing St', and 'The Treasury and an Introduction to Economic History—in partnership with HM Treasury'. He worked as an investment banker before turning to an academic career, and also spent a year in the Cabinet Office's Modernising Government Secretariat.

John Rentoul is Chief Political Commentator for The Independent, Visiting Professor at King's College London, and the author of an acclaimed biography of Tony Blair. He has worked previously as a political reporter at The Independent, the BBC, and the New Statesman. Together with his co-author Jon Davis, he ran the Blair Government course at Queen Mary, from 2008 to 2011, in which many of the leading figures of the Blair administration participated, including the former prime minister himself.

New in Paperback

Heroes or Villains?

The Blair Government Reconsidered

Jon Davis and John Rentoul

Reviews and Awards

"Making me feel nostalgic for New Labour is quite an achievement. But the authors of a fascinating new book have somehow managed it ... a perceptive, scholarly study..." - Iain Martin, The Times

"A fascinating book." - Andrew Grice, The Independent

"... fascinating retrospective ... It draws upon the rich seam of material from a host of distinguished contributors ... We hear a whole range of voices with a unique and previously unheard contribution to make [...] an account like this is long overdue." - Alan Johnson, The Spectator

"A vital addition to the literature on the Blair government and New Labour ... a fascinating study, packed with first-hand accounts and primary sources, and one, as the authors posit, that the fair-minded reader will find particularly rewarding." - Robert Ledger, LSE Blogs

"Davis and Rentoul make generous use of fascinating first-hand testimony." - Oliver Wiseman, CapX

"Obviously well informed ... a useful source on the extreme disfunction of our unwritten constitution." - Natalie Bennett, Green World

"The best survey of New Labour to date..." - insidestory.org

"This is an impressive new analysis of the conduct of UK government over the period 1997 to 2007... While there have been numerous treatments of this subject, the authors [...] manage to offer something here which feels genuinely original and different... Davis and Rentoul show how to make contemporary history both insightful and engaging." - Society of Professional Economists

"Combining first-hand sources and independent judgement, this is the first book on the Blair-Brown years which moves beyond journalism, biography and memoir to being the first draft of history." - Ed Balls, Former Economic Secretary to the Treasury

"The authors have had unprecedented access to the key figures of the Blair-Brown era and made brilliant use of it. Their superbly written book is meticulously researched, rich in insight and wise in judgement." - Sir Michael Barber

"The Blair Government changed Britain radically and the reverberations echo through all our current debates. Now is the perfect time to review those years and this is the perfect guide." - Michael Gove

"A stunning achievement. It is so well balanced and thoughtful, and makes masterly use of new evidence. It is a complete model of how to write a book." - Sir Anthony Seldon