After its drubbing at the polls, the Government more than ever needs a clear vision and sense of direction if it is to survive beyond the next General Election. Gordon Brown is known to be an admirer of the way Old Labour handled the "vision thing", writing a foreword to the 2006 reissue of Crosland's The Future of Socialism. The power of Crosland's book, a brilliant mixture of political theory and policy proposals, was such that it continues to resonate today.

The continuing appeal of Crosland derives in part from his colourful personality. After the Second World War, in which he served with distinction in the Parachute Regiment, Crosland became a flamboyant economics don at Oxford. Days were spent in hard academic endeavour, but nights were given over to what he called "sex, gin and Bogart", with gambling and heavy smoking thrown in.

In 1950, he left Oxford to become a Labour MP, initially for South Gloucestershire and later for Grimsby, and he soon established a reputation as the leading intellectual in
party ranks.

The Future of Socialism, published in 1956 when Crosland was still in his thirties, proved to be his magnum opus – and the chief reason he's still admired today. In spite of post-war improvements that came with full employment and Attlee's welfare state, social distress was still widespread in 1950s' Britain and class divisions were entrenched.

As well as continuing to improve services such as the NHS, Crosland hoped to see a social revolution achieved through egalitarian reforms, notably to the education system – "the most divisive, unjust, and wasteful of all aspects of social equality" he called it, at a time when the great majority were condemned to inadequate secondary moderns.

Labour left-wingers were outraged by Crosland's assertion that 1940s-style nationalisation was "wholly irrelevant" to the development of a more equal society. But in general the book received glowing reviews. It was lauded as an exciting attempt to update socialism as Britain entered a new age of consumerism. Crosland became the acknowledged high priest of Labour revisionism, and his work stood the test of time with other sections of the party failing to provide anything comparable.

Although he was a successful and reforming Education Secretary in the 1960s, associated with the rise of comprehensive schools, Crosland was almost a one-man champion of egalitarian socialism by the time Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigned in 1976. In the face of economic turbulence – with inflation rampant – he was heavily criticised for assuming too readily that
growth would permit uninterrupted social advance.

When Crosland died unexpectedly of a stroke in 1977, his brand of revisionism was under siege, and went out of fashion as Labour drifted leftwards towards a long spell in the political wilderness. Four consecutive election defeats made unabashed tax-and-spend policies a non-starter under the youthful new party leader Tony Blair in the 1990s.

But at a memorial meeting 20 years after Crosland's death, Gordon Brown paid homage to Croslandite redistribution by saying that "our commitment to equality is as strong as ever". And in office as Chancellor after 1997 Brown eventually
provided extra money for public services in a way that brought back memories of the Crosland era.
Some observers greeted the announcement of huge new sums
for investment in 2002 as a "great social democratic moment" after five years of prudence.

Opinion remains divided in Labour ranks about the continuing value of The Future of Socialism. Austin Mitchell, Crosland's successor as MP for Grimsby, believes that revisionism is still relevant. Others are not convinced. "He was grappling with his world," said MP Tony Wright, "and we have to grapple with ours.".

What seems certain is that one of the reasons for New Labour's predicament today is its failure to give voters a strong sense of core underlying values. Various slogans and themes have come and gone over the past few years but none has
taken root. Even for sympathetic commentators such as Polly Toynbee, the Government has not provided that all-important "vision of a
great society".

Crosland's supreme achievement was that he provided a "vision of a great society". The issue of whether to revive The Future of Socialism or to move beyond it will only be resolved if, more than 50 years on, a work of similar imagination and authority is written, one which clarifies the place of equality alongside other values and provides a map of future policy to inspire and guide a new generation on the left.

When Crosland's final book Socialism Now was published in 1974, one reviewer, the MP Giles Radice, wrote that it was thin on fresh thinking. There was an urgent need in the middle of the 1970s, Radice argued, for "a Future of Socialism mark II", but "Mr Crosland has not written it". This touched a raw nerve.

Crosland had long felt it was for others to emulate his 1956 study. A generation after his death, the need for a youthful apostle to do for New Labour what Crosland did for Old Labour remains as pressing as ever. We still await a Future of Socialism mark II.

To order a copy of Anthony Crosland from the Yorkshire Post Bookshop,
call free on 0800 0153232 or go online at www.yorkshirepost
bookshop.co.uk. Postage and packing is £2.75.


Kevin Jefferys is professor of history at Plymouth University. His biography, Anthony Crosland, is reissued by Politico's Publishing, £14.99.