Skip to main content
General Strike Anniversary
A capital vision
London has been a pioneer in council housing, radical local democracy and multiculturalism and a new book persuasively argues that it can be so again, says GLYN ROBBINS
(L to R) Warwick Road (Kensington) Estate saved from ‘redevelopment’ or demolition by a certificate of immunity, July 2015; Lillington Gardens a former council housing estate in Westminster is now owned and managed by CityWest Homes [(Left) Philafrenzy and (right) Ewan Munro both Creative Commons]

Red Metropolis: Socialism and the Government of London
by Owen Hatherley
(Repeater Books, £10.99)

FOR anyone who’s lived in London during the last 50 years — and especially if you’ve taken an interest in its politics — Owen Hatherley’s book is unputdownable. He knows his stuff and writes so fluently that he’s made what could be a very dry subject into a page-turner.  

A book about much more than the title suggests, it’s also an attempt to understand the Labour Party’s crushing December 2019 defeat and suggest some ways for the left to reform, in part inspired by London’s radical tradition.   

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A ballot box arriving during the count for the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool, May 2, 2024
Features / 19 July 2025
19 July 2025

In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026

International Brigade Memorial by Ian Walters, 1985 (restored 2012). Jubilee Gardens, Belvedere Road, Lambeth, London
Spanish Civil War / 24 June 2025
24 June 2025

LYNNE WALSH tells the story of the extraordinary race against time to ensure London’s memorial to the International Brigades got built – as activists gather next week to celebrate the monument’s 40th anniversary

gang
Theatre review / 7 May 2025
7 May 2025

PAUL DONOVAN relishes a fascinating exploration of the leading lights of the Labour right in the 1970s

The vote count on May 1 at Grimsby Town Hall, Lincolnshire, for the Greater Lincolnshire Mayor election
Features / 6 May 2025
6 May 2025

With Reform UK surging and Labour determined not to offer anything different from the status quo, a clear opportunity opens for the left, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE