John Freeman was one of the brightest stars of the Labour Party’s post-war generation. Elected in the 1945 Labour landslide, he rapidly rose through Clement Attlee’s government and became a hero of the Labour left. Some even thought he could one day become Prime Minister. But after resigning from the government alongside Nye Bevan and Harold Wilson, he walked away from Parliament aged just 40. For the remainder of his life, Freeman never settled - he became a pioneering television interviewer, editor of the New Statesman, British High Commissioner to India, Ambassador to the United States, television executive and university professor. In this episode of 'Since Attlee & Churchill', Richard and Lee explore the extraordinary nine lives of one of the most fascinating, enigmatic and easily overlooked figures in modern British political history.

In this episode, the following books are mentioned:

'Bonar Law' by R.J.Q. Adams

'A Very Private Celebrity: The Nine Lives of John Freeman' by Hugh Purcell

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s Matters of Interest, Lee and Richard discuss Starmer’s decision to resign as an MP – and look at how his departure is part of a much bigger change in the relationship between former prime ministers and Parliament. Will any future PM do as Arthur Balfour and Edward Heath did and stay in the Commons long after their time in Number 10 is over? Then, Richard turns to the recent debate on the trade-offs between sovereignty and free trade between Canada and the United States. Richard argues that some of the same commentators who diagnosed a 'sovereignty syndrome' in Britain during the Brexit negotiations seem to have done a 180 when it comes to Canada insisting on its right to set its own policies. Is that right? And what would a more consistent reasoned and consistent approach to sovereignty look like?

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Since Attlee & Churchill, Lee and Richard are joined by Nigel Fletcher, author of 'Churchill's Queen: The Remarkable Friendship That Shaped Our Age', to explore the fascinating relationship between Winston Churchill and Elizabeth II. In his new book, Nigel explores how their relationship developed even before Elizabeth's accession in 1952, with Churchill playing an influential role in her early life. This episode also explores the personal relationship between the two as Prime Minister and Sovereign, their very different ways of understanding the decline of the British Empire and the emergence of the Commonwealth, and the disagreements that punctuated their relationship – including about the Royal Family's name and their London home. The episode ends by reflecting on how different the beginning of Elizabeth II's reign might have been if Clement Attlee had remained Prime Minister instead.

'Churchill’s Queen: The Remarkable Friendship That Shaped Our Age' by Nigel Fletcher is available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781529977257

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Lee and Richard debate whether Andy Burnham should call an early general election – and what, if anything, could justify him doing so. Is the conventional wisdom that a Prime Minister is never as popular as they are in their first few months actually true? And what can Burnham learn from the experiences of Theresa May, Gordon Brown, John Major – and even Stanley Baldwin?! Next, Richard looks at the extraordinary GCSE results achieved by Michaela Community School and asks what its success reveals about the principles of a good education. He then reveals some correspondence involving his socialist grandfather from the 1970s, reflecting on whether comprehensive education in practice was living up to the principles of its advocates.

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Since Attlee & Churchill Summer Book Club, Lee and Richard are joined by Nan Sloane, author of 'Margaret Bondfield: The Life and Times of Britain’s First Female Cabinet Minister', to discuss the extraordinary life and career of one of the pioneers of the Labour movement. Bondfield was the first woman to speak from the despatch box in the House of Commons, the first woman Privy Counsellor and the first woman Cabinet Minister. But her life is much more than a series of remarkable firsts. In this episode, Lee, Richard and Nan look at Bondfield's difficult childhood and early working life through to her rise through the trade union movement, as well as her Christian faith and likely lesbianism. Finally, they explore her controversial time as Minister of Labour during the economic crisis of 1929–31, her relationship with Ramsay MacDonald, and the reasons why her reputation subsequently faded from view.

'Margaret Bondfield: The Life and Times of Britain’s First Female Cabinet Minister' by Nan Sloane is available here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781350513655

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister for a month, but how good a start has he made? Lee and Richard debate Burnham’s first weeks in Downing Street, with Lee arguing that the new Prime Minister has so far offered little more than Martin Lewis-style tinkering to save people a few quid instead of the genuinely bold programme the country needs (and he promised). Meanwhile, Richard argues that Burnham has already delivered a surprisingly substantive programme of policies. Next, Richard turns to the United States to discuss the fascinating history of the American states that were once, at least in some sense, independent countries – from the Republic of Texas and the Kingdom of Hawaii to the short-lived California Republic and independent Vermont. What does the history of these former independent states tell us about how and why the United States has generally been more muscular in maintaining its union than other states?

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Benjamin Disraeli remains one of the most influential figures in Conservative history – but how much of the Disraeli we think we know was created after his death? In this episode, Lee and Richard are joined by Emily Jones, author of 'The Disraeli Myth: The Making of a Conservative Tradition'. They discuss how successive generations were inspired by Disraeli and reinvented him to suit their own political purposes, from Tory Socialists and Edwardian tariff reformers to One Nation Conservatives. What made Disraeli such a compelling figure in Tory history? How important was his Jewish identity to the mythmaking? And does 'political bodysnatching' – the appropriation of historical figures by later generations – help or hinder the way we think about politics?

'The Disraeli Myth: The Making of a Conservative Tradition' by Emily Jones is available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9780691246314

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Since Attlee & Churchill, Lee and Richard consider the argument that supporting North Sea oil and gas extraction is an “extremist” position. How useful is it to label political opponents in this way? And has it been a mistake to reduce Britain's environmental policy to what is essentially a spreadsheet exercise in calculating carbon emissions? They then turn to a new article exploring the relationship between politicians and their constituents through the letters and emails that MPs receive. Drawing on the correspondence of politicians including Tony Benn and Enoch Powell, Richard and Lee consider what politicians can really learn from their postbags – and whether the rise of email, social media and now AI is changing the relationship between voters and their representatives.

Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.