Alice in Westminster
| Author | Rachel Reeves |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | I.B. Tauris |
Publication date | 2016 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 448 |
| ISBN | 9781784537685 |
Alice in Westminster: The Political Life of Alice Bacon is a 2016 biography of the Labour Party politician Alice Bacon, written by Rachel Reeves.
Background
Rachel Reeves was elected in 2010 as a Member of Parliament for Leeds West. At that time she was only the second female MP to represent any Leeds constituency—the first being Alice Bacon.[1] Over four decades, Bacon was instrumental in the development of comprehensive schools, the abolition of Capital punishment, the legalisation of abortion and the decriminalisation of homosexuality.[2] Despite her long tenure and achievements, until Alice in Westminster there was no biography of Bacon, and little written about her in more general Labour histories.[3]
Reeves has said these—along with the debt she feels to Bacon's work normalising women in parliament—were the impetus for the book.[1] The work was written in collaboration with researcher Richard Carr.[3]
Synopses
Alice in Westminster traces Bacon's life from her upbringing in West Yorkshire, through her time as a constituency MP, her appointment as Minister of State at the Home Office, and her long campaign of reform for the British education system.[4]
Reception
David Kynaston, writing in The Observer, found that while Reeves was "[painstaking] and at odd moments, [moving]" in the biography, she was "not a natural biographer", with "too often the focus [being] internalist" containing too many "worthily dull" "long quotations".[5] Likewise, Olivia Dee, in Parliamentary History, thought that while the book shone when concentrating on "small anecdotal details which illustrate these larger ideas and insights into the human side of working in parliament", Reeves move away from this style in some chapters caused those sections to be less "engaging" and "readable".[6]
Rachel Holmes, of the magazine Prospect, on the other hand, felt that "Reeves has done Bacon proud" with a "comprehensive and insightful account" that would be welcomed by those looking for "serious political biography about women".[2] Laura Beers, in the journal Twentieth Century British History, called the work "a thorough political biography that offers a clear record of Bacon's political career and achievements, and asserts her right to be remembered alongside Barbara Castle and Jennie Lee".[3]
References
- ^ a b Reeves, Rachel (27 November 2016). "We owe a debt to Labour's bold, pioneering Alice Bacon". The Observer. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ a b Holmes, Rachel (18 January 2017). "Books in brief: Alice in Westminster by Rachel Reeves". Prospect. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ a b c Beers, Laura (1 September 2017). "Alice in Westminster: The Political Life of Alice Bacon. By Rachel Reeves". Twentieth Century British History. 28 (3): 482–483. doi:10.1093/tcbh/hwx024. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ Riley, Charlotte Lydia (2016). "Review of alice in westminster: The political life of alice bacon". Renewal. 24 (4): 63–65. Retrieved 24 February 2026 – via Proquest.
- ^ Kynaston, David (22 January 2017). "Alice in Westminster: The Political Life of Alice Bacon by Rachel Reeves – review". The Observer. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ Dee, Olivia (June 2018). "Alice in Westminster: The Political Life of Alice Bacon. By Rachel Reeves". Parliamentary History. 37 (2): 322–324. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12377. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
External links
- UK Parliament (21 Aug 2017). 'Alice Bacon – Labour's Forgotten Reformer' by Rachel Reeves MP – via Youtube.