STEVE JOHNSON recommends a protest album with a harder edge than many in the genre
Dr Who and the Tory party
ANDREW MURRAY muses on the Tory Party’s capacity to reincarnate itself despite all rumours of its decline, and doubts the conclusions of a rare analysis from the left
Conservative party leadership contender Boris Johnson with supporters during a Tory leadership hustings at Darlington Hippodrome
DENNIS BROE finds much to praise in the new South African Netflix series, but wonders why it feels forced to sell out its heroine
CARL DEATH introduces a new book which explores how African science fiction is addressing climate change
In his second round-up, EWAN CAMERON picks excellent solo shows that deal with Scottishness, Englishness and race as highlights
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family
MATTHEW HAWKINS is mesmerised by a performance that dissolves the line between audience and performer
MATTHEW SHARPE recommends the essays of a Renaissance politician that instruct and unnerve after 400 years
The Party’s Over
Phil Burton-Cartledge, Verso, £11.99
THIS is an updated version of a rarity on the left, a book that takes the Tory Party seriously as a political actor.
Socialists endlessly pore over the entrails of the Labour Party, yet the Conservatives are routinely dismissed in the most sweeping terms as simply the pliable governing instrument of the class enemy.
The Tories deserve more scrutiny of the sort this book attempts. After all, it is not only the concentrated expression of the British bourgeoisie, it also from time to time gets more working-class votes at elections than the Labour Party.
More from this author
Corbyn and Sultana commit to launching new socialist party
If Labour MPs who rebelled over the welfare reforms expected to be listened to, they shouldn’t have underestimated the vindictiveness of the Starmer regime. But a new left party that might rehome them is yet to be established, writes ANDREW MURRAY
Starmer doubles down on witch hunt by suspending the whip from Diane Abbott
