The First Workers' Government or New Times for Henry Dubb

1934 Mitchison, G[ilbert] R[ichard] (1894-1970). The First Workers’ Government or New Times for Henry Dubb With an introduction by Sir Stafford Cripps, K.C., M.P. London: Victor Gollancz. 528 pp. with the introduction on 5-13, a Preface by the author on 15-17, a Time-Table on 21-22, appendices giving the “Emergency Powers (Financial) Act, 1936” on 485-88, the “Banking Act, 1937” on 488-501, and the “National Investment Act, 1937” on 501-510, and a detailed index on 511-28. L, PSt

The novel is set in a future where the Labour Party wins the election of 1936 and much of it, as indicated by the materials in the appendix, deals with financing the reforms. The Time-Table indicates that the party also won the election of 1941, and it is implied that it won again in 1946. The most explicitly utopian part is the final chapter, “The New Times” (465-82), which includes material on the status of women, including family endowment, education, the press, and a final section on the impact of the changes on a working-class couple, Henry and Mary Dubb (476-82). See also 1933 Mitchison. The author was active in the Socialist League and the Fabian Society and was a Labour M.P. from 1945 to 1964 and created a life peer in 1964.