Speaking for the People : Party, Language and Popular Politics in England, 1867–1914

This 1998 study examines the popular appeal of Liberal, Tory, and Labour politics in the period 1867 to 1914, and asks us to take a fresh look at the role of the party. In doing so it challenges our understanding of the emergence of Labour and the rise of class politics before 1914.

Speaking for the People, first published in 1998, draws our attention to the problematic nature of politicians' claims to represent others, and in doing so it challenges conventional ideas about both the rise of class politics, and the triumph of party between 1867 and 1914. The book emphasises the strongly gendered nature of party politics before the First World War, and suggests that historians have greatly underestimated the continuing importance of the 'politics of place'. Most importantly, however, Speaking for the People argues that we must break away from teleological notions such as the 'modernisation' of politics, the taming of the 'popular', or the rise of class. Only then will we understand the shifting currents of popular politics. Speaking for the People represents a major challenge to the ways in which historians and political scientists have studied the interaction between party politics and popular political cultures.