North East Labour History

In conjunction with the Orwell Society, we are hosting an in person meeting at the Tyneside Irish Centre, Friday 25 March at 7.30pm when Sylvia Topp will be in conversation with North East History editor, Rosie Serdiville about her recently published biography of Eileen O'Shaughnessy, Eileen: The Making of George Orwell. This meeting will also be livestreamed (see below). […]

BOOKING REQUIRED: BOOK HERE  Suitable for ages 16+ Sylvia Topp, author of the novel Eileen: The Making of George Orwell, will be joining us at The Word to discuss her book which is the never before told story of George Orwell’s first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, a woman born in South Shields who shaped, supported and […]

Apologies for this change of plan. This unveiling is now by invitation only as space is limited.

"A working class woman inside the walls of Westminster? If that is not espionage, I do not know what is." A Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse & Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh production Booking details here This remarkable new play from Caroline Bird tells the inspiring and epic story of Ellen Wilkinson, Labour MP, who was forever on […]

‘The Man at the Back: Lord Tom Sawyer and the modernisation of the Labour Party’ with Dr. Christopher Massey This talk highlights the significant contribution of Lord Tom Sawyer to the Labour Party’s modernisation between 1983 and 1997. Sawyer, as a key trade union official and later General Secretary of the Labour Party, played a […]

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Award-winning North East folk band The Young'uns - Sean Cooney and David Eagle with Jack Rutter (for Michael Hughes) present their production of The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff, recorded in front of a live audience in their hometown of Stockton-on-Tees. It's the true story of one man's journey from unemployment, through the Hunger Marches of […]

North East England is rarely associated with the African slave trade, but new research has shown that the region was inextricably involved in that shocking state-sanctioned traffic in human beings. "Hidden Chains" reveals the links between some of the North East's wealthiest, most prominent families and the plantations of the New World. It also tells […]

Register here for tickets to attend in person or here to join online via Zoom. A free public event hosted by Durham University History Department. Although the Miners’ Strike took place nearly forty years ago, the families and communities that experienced it in County Durham still have vivid memories of that year and have had […]

Nigel, with his daughter Selina, on an anti-austerity march in Manchester, 4th October 2015. Photograph courtesy Peter Brabban. Music by Bethany Elen Coyle and pizzas from the pizza oven. Opportunity to share memories about Nigel and his work in the community. Open to all. The bike garden is located in Nuns Moor Park here: https://goo.gl/maps/Q1LwGLu3ZRZxmJT96