The Labour Movement in Westmorland

All across Facebook folks are sharing status under the heading, "International Book Week", so it's interesting to see the range of books people are reading.

My current read is "The Labour Movement in Westmorland" by David Clark, which is a fascinating history of the Labour Party and Labour movement in an area long considered to be first a Tory and then a LibDem stronghold.

This fascinating books tells the story of Labour in Westmorland, from the earliest days of the Party through the years of the first world war and the 1926 General Strike, covering the visits by Sir Oswald Mosley's fascist blackshirts in the 1930s, the campaign by the county's first (and only!) female parliamentary candidate in 1935, the second world war and post-war austerity, through to the labour unrest of the 1970s and 1980s, and the fight for the party's survival locally in the 1990s and beyond the millennium.

A wealth of interesting characters populate the book, some surprising tales emerged, and the photos added to my delight as did knowing some of the people mentioned.

If you thought that Labour never happened in Westmorland, then this book will enlighten you. Well worth a read!

"The Labour Movement in Westmorland" 
by David Clark, Lord Clark of Windermere
Lensden Publishing 2012
ISBN 978 0955199295