Trio

Blair: charming, charismatic and a great communicator but undermined by an unshakeable conviction that he was right. Brown: in private, warm and witty; in public, an authoritative Chancellor but a wooden and curiously un-self-confident Prime Minister. Mandelson: for Blair, supreme courtier and chief adviser; for Brown, from arch-enemy to polished political life-saver. Among the most controversial figures in Britain's recent history, these three architects of New Labour together shaped Britain - and into the first decade of the 21st century. "Trio" charts their rise to power and their undoubted achievements, both individually and collectively, alongside their quarrels, failings and failures. It offers remarkably clear-sighted portraits of three powerful men who created a new politics in Britain, making Labour electable - and then back again - in 12 turbulent years.

Autorentext

The Rt Hon Lord Radice was Labour MP for Durham North until he was made a Life Peer in 2000. He has been Chairman of the European Movement since 1995. His previous books include Offshore: Britain and the European Idea (I.B. Tauris), Friends and Rivals: Crosland, Jenkins and Healey ('the best political book of the year' - Independent on Sunday), Diaries: 1980-2001 and The Tortoise and the Hares: Attlee, Bevin, Cripps, Dalton, Morrison.

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Contents

Preface

Introduction

Part 1: Origins: New Labour's Trio

1. Provenance and Upbringing: Tony Blair
2. Provenance and Upbringing: Gordon Brown
3. Provenance and Upbringing: Peter Mandelson

Part 2: On the Rise

4 Kinnock's Young Men
5 Smith's Brief Reign
6 The Blair / Brown Deal
7 The Triumph of New Labour

Part 3: In Power

8 Learning the Ropes
9 Super Chancellor
10 Mandelson Resigns - and Resigns Again
11 Second Landslide

Part 4: Things go Awry

12 9/11, Bush and Afghanistan
13 Iraq
14 The Blair - Brown wars
15 Blair's Legacy, Brownite Coup

Part 5: Brown's Turn

16 Brown in Trouble: Mandelson Returns
17 Credit Crunch - Brown helps "save the world"
18 The Fourth Battle

Conclusion