Michael Calderbank
Michael Calderbank Red Pepper co-editor and parliamentary researcher for trade unions. @Calderbank
Essay: a new sense of nation?
3 May 2020 Michael Calderbank and Ashish Ghadiali discuss the meaning of ‘national pride’ and ask if it can – or should – have a place in a truly radical left politics
What do we do now?
13 December 2019 After knocking on so many doors, the movement built in support of Jeremy Corbyn needs to stay present particularly where people feel abandoned or under attack
Radical Roots – Corbyn and the Tradition of English Radicalism
14 October 2019 The ideas underpinning Corbynism are deeply embedded in the English radical tradition. Reclaiming this tradition can play a key part in reinvigorating our ambitions for the future. By MICHAEL CALDERBANK with HILARY WAINWRIGHT
Costas Lapavitsas: Socialism starts at home
24 October 2018 Michael Calderbank speaks to Marxist economist Costas Lapavitsas ahead of the publication of his provocative new book The Left Case Against the EU
What happened at Labour Conference?
1 October 2018 Michael Calderbank brings you a bite-sized guide to what went on at conference, and what that means for the future of the party.
‘For A Left Populism’: An interview with Chantal Mouffe
22 September 2018 Michael Calderbank spoke to Chantal Mouffe about why she thinks the time is right for a left populism
Don’t box Corbyn in over Brexit
22 June 2018 Encouraging Labour to block Brexit is tantamount to writing off the opportunity of a Corbyn-led socialist government. No wonder the Blairites are so keen, writes Michael Calderbank
Local elections: 5 reasons to be cheerful
4 May 2018 Media got you down about the local election results? Michael Calderbank finds the bright spots
Where did it all go wrong, Morrissey?
2 December 2017 He was once a radical icon, but now he's a mouthpiece for racism and nationalism. Time to get off stage, writes Michael Calderbank
Labour’s NEC has started to empower party members – but we still have a mountain to climb
20 September 2017 The crunch executive meeting ahead of Labour conference agreed some welcome changes, writes Michael Calderbank, but there is still much further to go
Fast food workers stand up for themselves and #McStrike – we’re loving it!
3 September 2017 McDonald's workers are striking for the first time ever in Britain, reports Michael Calderbank
PLP committee elections: it seems like most Labour backbenchers still haven’t learned their lesson
7 July 2017 Corbyn is riding high in the polls - so he can face down the secret malcontents among Labour MPs, writes Michael Calderbank
Corbyn supporters surge in Labour’s internal elections
3 July 2017 A big rise in left nominations from constituency Labour parties suggests Corbynites are getting better organised, reports Michael Calderbank
Labour’s new hopes: Meet the new left MPs
28 June 2017 Michael Calderbank profiles Jeremy Corbyn's new supporters in parliament
The media wants to demoralise Corbyn’s supporters – don’t let them succeed
5 May 2017 Michael Calderbank looks at the results of yesterday's local elections
How progressive is the ‘progressive alliance’?
21 March 2017 We need an anti-austerity alliance, not a vaguely progressive alliance, argues Michael Calderbank
Confronting Brexit
20 March 2017 Paul O’Connell and Michael Calderbank consider the conditions that led to the Brexit vote, and how the left in Britain should respond
A better Brexit
5 January 2017 The left should not tail-end the establishment Bremoaners, argues Michael Calderbank
How likely is a Labour Party split?
4 August 2016 Michael Calderbank asks whether Labour's warring factions can ever be brought back together in a united party
Awakening from a nightmare: hope in an Out vote
16 June 2016 Michael Calderbank forsees a bright future for the left in the event of an Out vote in the referendum
Video debate: The EU referendum – should the left vote in or out?
30 May 2016 Marina Prentoulis and Luke Cooper (for in) debate Hannah Sell and Michael Calderbank (for out) in this episode of The Wedge, produced in collaboration with Red Pepper
Local elections in England: Reasons to be cheerful
8 May 2016 Labour's results are better than you'd know from the pre-prepared despair by the media and some internal critics, writes Michael Calderbank
Hope Without Optimism
19 April 2016 Hope Without Optimism, by Terry Eagleton, reviewed by Michael Calderbank
Going into Labour
20 February 2016 You’ve joined the Labour Party – now how can you make your voice heard in its structures? Let Michael Calderbank guide you
After Corbyn’s victory: time for a new kind of politics
18 September 2015 Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters now face the huge task of opening up the Labour Party and putting members genuinely in control. How can they do it? Michael Calderbank gives some ideas
Kill the Tory Trade Union Bill!
10 September 2015 Michael Calderbank calls on Red Pepper readers to attend the 14 September protest to #killthebill
How Labour lost the 1992 election: an alternative to the ‘official wisdom’
25 August 2015 Michael Calderbank revisits Defeat from the Jaws of Victory, by Mike Marqusee and Richard Heffernan, first published 1992
Editorial: Triumph over disaster
25 August 2015 Whatever the outcome of the Jeremy Corbyn campaign, it has shown that anti-austerity arguments have a wide resonance, writes Michael Calderbank
It’s Corbynmania! Thousands rally for Jeremy Corbyn
4 August 2015 Michael Calderbank reports from the central London rally for Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn for leader! Write to your MP
8 June 2015 Michael Calderbank asks you to help get Jeremy onto the ballot paper for Labour leader
‘Don’t mourn, organise’ – OK, but how?
9 May 2015 The left must re-think its strategy and methods of organisation after the election, writes Michael Calderbank – not just throw ourselves back into the same schemes that aren't working
Editorial: Reinventing politics
21 April 2015 Not even the most favourable electoral outcome is likely to deliver what is needed, writes Michael Calderbank
Editorial: Unshrinking the offer
1 August 2014 Michael Calderbank says the ambition and imagination that fuelled 1970s radicalism needs to be reclaimed and renewed, not rejected
The Failed Experiment
11 June 2014 The Failed Experiment, by Andrew Fisher, reviewed by Michael Calderbank
Shelagh Delaney and the drama of everyday life
1 April 2014 Michael Calderbank reconsiders the context of Salford playwright Shelagh Delaney’s breakthrough as the National Theatre stages a revival of her debut A Taste of Honey
Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism
1 February 2014 Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism, by Peter Hudis, reviewed by Michael Calderbank
Editorial: Winter chill, political spring
19 December 2013 A two-year price freeze on energy bills, while welcome, is hardly sufficient, writes Michael Calderbank
Resisting fascism is not a crime
2 September 2013 Defend Savas Michael-Matsas and Constantinos Moutzouris
After Woolwich – Stand together against the politics of hate
23 May 2013 Michael Calderbank says nothing excuses the Woolwich killing - but the hands of our political classes are no less besmirched with blood
Furthering the fightback
24 April 2013 The question of what new political formation is possible or necessary must always begin from the daily experience and needs of working class communities, writes Michael Calderbank
We can’t wish a new left party into existence
20 March 2013 Michael Calderbank offers an alternative view of Ken Loach’s appeal to discuss a new party
Scouse: a class accent
18 February 2013 Michael Calderbank speaks to Tony Crowley, author of Scouse: A Social and Cultural History
Labour and the cuts: beyond the ‘dented shield’
31 January 2013 The scale of coalition cuts means the very future of local public services is in jeopardy. Michael Calderbank asks whether Labour councillors can do more than offer verbal protest and practical acquiescence
Radicals at the table – Natalie Bennett interview
22 December 2012 Natalie Bennett, the new Green Party leader, speaks to Andrew Bowman and Michael Calderbank
One Nation, or, Ed Miliband’s Utopia
2 October 2012 Why are Labour now claiming to speak in the "one nation" tradition of 19th Century Tory PM Benjamin Disraeli? Michael Calderbank reflects
Shedcasting in Surbiton
26 September 2012 Michael Calderbank visits the suburban garden of radio broadcaster and DJ Mark Coles, an unlikely location for an internet-based radio show
Northern soul: Socialism with a Northern Accent
2 September 2012 Socialism with a Northern Accent, by Paul Salveson. reviewed by Michael Calderbank
Atos sponsors the Paralympics? It’s enough to make you scream
19 August 2012 The role played by disabled groups, far from being one of passive victims, is exemplary for collective resistance, writes Michael Calderbank
What if loyalty hadn’t drained Ken of his maverick energy?
8 May 2012 Michael Calderbank examines the reasons behind Ken Livingstone's defeat in the London mayoral elections
Audio: May elections – Jenny Jones interview
10 April 2012 Jenny Jones, the Green Party candidate for London mayor, speaks to Red Pepper's Tim Hunt and Michael Calderbank
