Labour tends to come to power with the economy in poor shape. That was the case for Clement Attlee in 1945 and for Harold Wilson in both 1964 and 1974. Of the party’s postwar premiers, only Tony Blair arrived in Downing Street with the economy in decent condition.
Blair was the last Labour leader to win an election, 17 years and four defeats ago, so the talk at the party’s conference in Liverpool this week will be that nothing can be taken for granted and there is still work to be done.
