The English radical tradition and the British left, 1885-1945

This thesis is an intellectual history of the British left and explores the conscious appropriation of an English radical tradition during the formative years of the British labour movement. At the heart of the thesis is an assessment of the ways in which this radical democratic history came to shape the core identity and political values of the new labour movement, rooting it in a national democratic history rather than an imported European Marxist tradition. The thesis explores the evolution of this democratic tradition within the British labour movement and assesses the ways in which the British past offered up a deeply contested history, as each faction within left/labourism claimed exclusive ownership of this democratic master narrative. I explore this complex process within a linear narrative history, which begins with the early socialist movements of the late nineteenth century and ends with the turbulent period of the Popular Front, when the major intellectual figures of the period became engaged in a fierce battle for the ownership of this national democratic past. The time-frame is a long one, but the expansive chronology of the thesis allows the opportunity for an analysis of key themes that emerged within the narrative of the British progressive tradition over time. Above all, this thesis is a history of ideas, rather than of organisations, and analyses their impact on key thinkers and strategists on the political left during the period.