Chesterfield Socialist Conference, October 1987
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This fascinating wee video from 1987 turned up on my timeline on Facebook earlier today:
Chesterfield Socialist Conference, October 1987
In the aftermath of Labour's third General Election defeat in a row in June 1987, a tv report of a Tony Benn initiative, the Chesterfield Socialist Conference held later that same year. The journalist Paul Mason is featured at the 2 minute mark in his former life as a Workers' Power cadre member. And I'm unsure, but is that Ralph Miliband speaking at the 3 minute 28 second mark? If it is, I wonder if David and Ed were in attendance?
I saw Anthony Booth, Cherie's dad…so was she and Tony there?Benn, so full of confidence…ahhhhhhhhhhhh…. he always was, wasn't he?
He stood against Kinnock for the leadership of the Labour Party the following year, and only secured 11% of the vote, so I think that confidence was rather misplaced.
The Labour Party had a different voting system in place back then to elect its leader and deputy leader, but Kinnock's victory over Benn was overwhelming enough to indicate that the majority of the Labour Party agreed with the direction in which Kinnock was going.Link: The result
A brief unsigned piece in the December 1987 issue of the Socialist Standard about the Chesterfiled Conference:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/07/here-we-go-again-1987.htmlThe writer's style suggests the piece was penned by Steve Coleman, but I can't be 100% sure.
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