Andrew Fisher the Man Behind For the Many Not the Few

Labour Left Podcast

On it’s first birthday the Labour Left Podcast, produced in association with Labour Hub, interviewed Andrew Fisher the man behind the iconic 2017 Labour Manifesto.

The interview began by exploring the inside story behind For the Many Not the Few - the manifesto that Keir Starmer called our ‘foundational document.’ Andrew reveals to us how he ended up writing the manifesto, what was in his mind when he wrote it and the moment when the Labour right leaked it.

In the second half of the interview, we moved onto Starmer for some fascinating insights into what makes the man tick. Find out why Starmer popped into Jeremy Corbyn’s leader’s office whilst Owen Smith’s Leadership coup was still in full swing. What did he want? Andrew sat alongside Starmer during the Brexit negotiations with Prime Minister May. What was Starmer like as a lead negotiator?

Later we discuss the Oliver Eagleton thesis that there was always a Project Starmer. We explored to what extent was Eagleton right about the project with the recollections of an insider who saw it all.

Moving on we looked at Reevonomics. Having drawn upon Andrew’s excellent book, The Failed Experiment, to help us define neo-liberalism we considered to what extent Rachel Reeves is planning to depart from the economic orthodoxy. Is the Macro Dose, left economics podcaster, James Meadway on the right track when he says Labour Will End Neoliberalism. Just Not in a Good Way?

As we approached the latter stages of the interview, we dissected the prospects for a Labour Left revival, the future of the Campaign Groups Magnificent Seven and the role of the soft left. Andrew had some thoughts and advice for Left MPs and Trade Union leaders on how they might help hasten the arrival of a much-needed comeback.

Finally, Andrew revealed who he wanted to put in the Labour Left Podcast Class Hero Hall of Fame. I think the readers of Labour Hub will approve of his choice.

If you enjoy the Labour Left Podcast 2024 conference special, please have a look at the whole year back catalogue. Previous episodes have included historian, Corinne Fowler, talking about her book Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain; Jeremy Gilbert, Professor of Cultural and Political Theory, talking about Thatcherism; Mike Jackson, co-founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, on the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike; political activist Liz Davies telling her story as the dissenter within New Labour; Rachel Garnham, a current co-Chair of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy looking back at the history of the fight for labour democracy; and finally myself telling the story of Brighton Labour Briefing a local labour left magazine in the early 1980s.

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