THE LABOUR PARTY SPEAKER'S HANDBOOK 1948-9.

UK,slim 12mo wraps,1st edn.VG+.No owner inscrptn and no price removal from front cover.Publisher's lightly and sporadically grubbed,sharp-cornered,red paper covers with a white retangular panel containing black lettered title within,bordered by a single black line,to front cover with other white lettering,the rear cover a plain red with no text/lettering with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Rusted staples have caused the paper covers to become detached - would stand sympathetic repair - signatures of book solidly stapled though.Top+fore-edges inevitably aged/toned and with some minimal blemish; contents bright,tight, generally clean,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - appears unread other than my own collation.UK,slim 12mo wraps,1st edn,iii-vpp+9- 167pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,an introduction by Morgan Phillips,19 sections/chapters,b/w bar charts illustrations and other statistical tables interspersed throughout the text and the book,appendices (2 - includes a bibliography) and an index; plus [unpaginated] title page,another title separator page and to the rear,an unused Speaker's Handbook's Supplement free entitlement application form. Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable even with the detached covers and for a book of it's age and nature, i.e. an ephemeral paper item,and even internally,the book is also in an acceptable condition/state of preservation and presentation.It is only the exterior faults described that prevent a higher grading. Labour served in the wartime coalition of 1940–1945, after which Clement Attlee's Labour government established the National Health Service (NHS) and expanded the welfare state from 1945 to 1951.At the end of the war in Europe,in May 1945,Labour on trade union insistence,resolved to contest the 1945 General Election in opposition to Churchill's Conservatives. Surprising many observers,Labour won a landslide victory,winning just under 50% of the vote with a majority of 159 seats.Labour went on to win the 1950 General Election,but with a much-reduced majority of five seats. In the 1951 General Election,Labour narrowly lost to Churchill's Conservatives,despite receiving the larger share of the popular vote – its highest ever vote numerically.Most of the changes introduced by the 1945–51 Labour government were accepted by the Conservatives and became part of the 'post-war consensus' that lasted until the late 1970s.Food and clothing rationing,however,still in place since the war, were swiftly relaxed,then abandoned from about 1953. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded, after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **