I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on some reading before exams get underway. At the moment I'm reading 'Parliamentary Socialism' by Ralph Miliband (father of current governmeet Ministers Ed and young David), and it really does bring the current struggles in the Labour Party into perspective.

The challenge of John McDonnell for the leadership against Gordon Brown is symptomatic of an age old struggle in the party that has existed since its inception. It's often said that Tony Blair broke the party's links to the trade unions. Certainly, he did, to some extent. But I would argue that the way some of the trade unions have decided to throw themselves behind John McDonnell is a vivid demonstration of the age-old split between the far left and moderate left in the party.

"This left-wing activist element in the Labour Party and the trade unions has always been in a minority. It has seldom been able to post effective challenge to the Labour leaders and it has never come near to capturing the Labour movement's commanding heights. Even so, organised or unorganised, it has been a force with which the Labour leaders have always had to reckon, and to which they have often been forced to make concessions; in various ways, the Left within the Labour Party has at least reduced the leaders' freedom of action."

Now this book was written in 1961, so it's hardly an up to date look at the dynamics within the Labour Party. But it remains as true as ever. Gordon Brown most certainly embodies the statist "extra-parliamentary Left" as Miliband categorises it, and John McDonnell the historically undertrodden far-left wing, which must always influence rather than rule. Miliband states the adaptation to external factors, such as the interference of historical, economic and social events, as well as the ability to respond to what the other parties are doing, which comes naturally to the less dogmatic and more moderate left, have always kept the far-left from making serious strides into the leadership.

I personally don't think McDonnell stands a chance against Gordon Brown. The the desire for an adaptive leadership which will appeal to the maximum number of voters will prevent him from getting far, just as it always has. It's just interesting to frame his inevitable failure into a historic perspective to explain why it is simply not possible for the far-left to ever really get a grip on the party, however hard McDonnell tries.

I continue to read...