Edinburgh University Press Strange Death of Labour in Scotland

The Scottish Labour Party is in an unprecedented position. Having been the leading party in Scotland for fifty years it lost an election and office to the SNP in 2007. This book addresses, examines and analyses the last thirty years of Scottish Labour, from the arrival of Thatcherism in 1979 to the aftermath of the party's defeat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections. It asks fundamental questions about the nature of Scottish Labour, its dominance of Scottish politics, the wider politics of Scotland, and whether the decline is irreversible. Covering both contemporary events and recent history, it draws on extensive research including archival sources and interviews with some of the key participants in Scottish Labour.