View source for Anthony Crosland

{{Short description|British politician (1918–1977)}}
{{distinguish|Richard Crossman}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Charles-Anthony-Raven-Crosland (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Crosland in 1970
| office              = [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]
| primeminister       = [[James Callaghan]]
| term_start          = 8 April 1976
| term_end            = 19 February 1977
| predecessor         = James Callaghan
| successor           = [[David Owen]]
| office1             = [[Secretary of State for the Environment]]
| primeminister1      = [[Harold Wilson]]
| term_start1         = 5 March 1974
| term_end1           = 8 April 1976
| predecessor1        = [[Geoffrey Rippon]]
| successor1          = [[Peter Shore]]
| office2             = [[Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment]]
| term_start2         = 15 October 1970
| term_end2           = 5 March 1974
| leader2             = Harold Wilson
| predecessor2        = Himself as Shadow Minister for Regional Planning, Housing & Local Government and the Environment
| successor2          = [[Geoffrey Rippon]]
| office3             = [[Shadow Minister of Public Buildings and Works]]
| term_start3         = 22 July 1970
| term_end3           = 15 October 1970
| leader3             = Harold Wilson
| predecessor3        = [[John Silkin]]
| successor3          = Himself as [[Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment]]
| office4             = [[Shadow Minister of Housing and Local Government]]
| term_start4         = 19 June 1970
| term_end4           = 15 October 1970
| leader4             = Harold Wilson
| predecessor4        = [[Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester|Peter Walker]]
| successor4          = Himself as [[Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment]]
| office5             = [[Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning]]
| term_start5         = 6 October 1969
| term_end5           = 19 June 1970
| primeminister5      = Harold Wilson
| predecessor5        = [[Tony Greenwood]] (Minister, Housing and Local Government)
| successor5          = [[Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester|Peter Walker]] (Minister of State, Housing and Local Government)
| office6             = [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| term_start6         = 29 August 1967
| term_end6           = 6 October 1969
| primeminister6      = Harold Wilson
| predecessor6        = [[Douglas Jay]]
| successor6          = [[Roy Mason]]
| office7             = [[Secretary of State for Education and Science]]
| term_start7         = 22 January 1965
| term_end7           = 29 August 1967
| primeminister7      = Harold Wilson
| predecessor7        = [[Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham|Michael Stewart]]
| successor7          = [[Patrick Gordon Walker]]
| office8             = [[Minister of State for Economic Affairs]]
| primeminister8      = Harold Wilson
| term_start8         = 20 October 1964
| term_end8           = 22 January 1965
| predecessor8        = ''Office created''
| successor8          = [[Austen Albu]]
| office9             = [[Economic Secretary to the Treasury]]
| primeminister9      = Harold Wilson
| term_start9         = 19 October 1964
| term_end9           = 22 December 1964
| predecessor9        = [[Maurice Macmillan]]
| successor9          = ''Office abolished'' (eventually [[Jock Bruce-Gardyne]])
| parliament10        = UK
| constituency_MP10   = [[Great Grimsby (UK Parliament constituency)|Great Grimsby]]
| term_start10        = 8 October 1959
| term_end10          = 19 February 1977
| predecessor10       = [[Kenneth Younger]]
| successor10         = [[Austin Mitchell]]
| parliament11        = <!--UK-->
| constituency_MP11   = [[South Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Gloucestershire]]
| term_start11        = 23 February 1950
| term_end11          = 6 May 1955
| predecessor11       = ''Constituency established''
| successor11         = [[Frederick Corfield]]
| birth_name          = Charles Anthony Raven Crosland
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=y|1918|8|29}}
| birth_place         = [[St Leonards-on-Sea]], [[Sussex]], England
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=y|1977|2|19|1918|8|29}}
| death_place         = [[Oxford]], England
| party               = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Hilary Anne Sarson|1952|1957|end=divorced}}
* {{Marriage|[[Susan Catling]]<br />|1964}}}}
| parents             = [[Jessie Raven Crosland]] (mother)
| education           = [[Highgate School]]
| alma_mater          = [[Trinity College, Oxford]]
}}

'''Charles Anthony Raven Crosland''' (29 August 1918{{spaced ndash}}19 February 1977) was a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician and author. A [[social democrat]] on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influential book ''[[The Future of Socialism]]'' (1956) argued against many [[Marxist]] notions and the traditional Labour Party doctrine that expanding public ownership was essential to make socialism work, arguing instead for prioritising the end of poverty and improving public services. He offered positive alternatives to both the right wing and left wing of the Labour Party.

Having served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[South Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Gloucestershire]] from 1950 to 1955, Crosland returned to Parliament for [[Great Grimsby (UK Parliament constituency)|Great Grimsby]] (1959–1977). During [[Harold Wilson]]'s [[Labour government, 1964–1970|governments of 1964–1970]] he served as [[Economic Secretary to the Treasury]] (1964), then [[Minister of State for Economic Affairs]] (1964–1965). Entering the Cabinet as [[Secretary of State for Education and Science]] (1965–1967), he led the Labour campaign to replace [[grammar school]]s with [[Comprehensive school (England and Wales)|comprehensive schools]] that did not use the [[eleven-plus]] for the selection of pupils. He later served as [[President of the Board of Trade]] (1967–1969), then [[Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning]] (1969–1970).

When Labour returned to power he served as [[Secretary of State for the Environment]] (1974–1976) and briefly as [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]] (1976–1977). In that role he promoted [[détente]] with the Soviet Union. He died suddenly in February 1977 of a [[cerebral haemorrhage]], aged 58.

== Early life ==
Crosland was born at [[St Leonards-on-Sea]] in [[East Sussex]]. His father, Joseph Beardsall Crosland, was a senior official at the [[War Office]], and his mother, [[Jessie Raven]], was an academic. Both of his parents were members of the [[Plymouth Brethren]]. His maternal grandfather was Frederick Edward Raven (1837–1903),<ref>[[:de:Frederick Edward Raven|Frederick Edward Raven]] on the German language Wikipedia.</ref> founder of the Raven [[Exclusive Brethren]] and secretary of the [[Royal Naval College (Greenwich)|Royal Naval College]], [[Greenwich]]. Crosland later rejected his family's religion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://michaeleasson.com/political-history/1982-why-crosland-still-matters|title=(1982) Why Crosland Still Matters|website=Michael Easson|date=9 September 1982 |accessdate=26 April 2024}}</ref> He grew up in north London and was educated at [[Highgate School]] and at [[Trinity College, Oxford]], obtaining a [[second class honours]] [[Academic degree|degree]] in Classical Moderations in Greek and Latin Literature.

In the spring of 1941, Crosland was commissioned in the [[Royal Welch Fusiliers]], and in late 1942 he joined (as part of the [[6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion]]) the [[2nd Parachute Brigade]], which was part of the [[1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|1st Airborne Division]]. In September 1943, he participated in the landings at Taranto, [[Operation Slapstick]]. Crosland had his first direct experience of combat in Italy in December . He then became an intelligence officer gathering information for several months in the front line about troop movements at the [[Battle of Monte Cassino]], and was also briefly involved in the Allied invasion of southern France as part of Operation Rugby in August 1944. He ended the war as a Captain.<ref>Jeffreys, Kevin, ''Anthony Crosland'' (1999). {{ISBN|1 86066 157 2}} pp. 12-26</ref>

After the war, Crosland returned to Oxford University and obtained [[first class honours]] in [[Philosophy, Politics and Economics]], which he studied in 12 months; he also became President of the [[Oxford Union]]. He then became a [[university don]] at Oxford, tutoring in Economics. Notable people he taught at Oxford included [[Tony Benn]], [[Norris McWhirter]] and [[Ross McWhirter]].

== In opposition ==
=== Early years in parliament ===
Crosland, who had been talent-spotted by [[Hugh Dalton]], was chosen as a Labour candidate in December 1949 to fight the next general election. He entered [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] at the February [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950 general election]], being returned for the [[South Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Gloucestershire constituency]]. He held that seat until the [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955 general election]], when he was defeated at [[Southampton Test]].

Crosland returned to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] at the [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959 general election]] when he was elected for [[Great Grimsby (UK Parliament constituency)|Grimsby]], which he would represent for the rest of his life. He was, like [[Roy Jenkins]] and [[Denis Healey]], a friend and protégé of [[Hugh Gaitskell]], and together they were regarded as the "modernisers" of their day.

From June 1960, Crosland played an important part in the establishment of the [[Campaign for Democratic Socialism]], a right-wing grassroots group within the Labour Party, created, in part, as a response to the debates around the Left's advocacy of unilateral nuclear disarmament and [[Clause IV]].<ref>[[Brivati, Brian]] 1997 Hugh Gaitskell {{ISBN|978-1-86066-115-0}} pp. 359-363</ref><ref>Jeffreys, Kevin 1999 Anthony Crosland {{ISBN|1-86066-157-2}} pp. 72-78</ref> However, Crosland was against Gaitskell's attempts to change Clause 4.<ref>[[Brivati, Brian]] 1997 Hugh Gaitskell {{ISBN|1-86066-115-7}} p. 332</ref>

=== 1963 leadership election ===
Even though they were from the same wing of the party, the thought of the Labour Party being led by the volatile [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]] appalled Crosland, but he also was a critic of [[Harold Wilson]] for his apparent lack of principles. Just over two years earlier Wilson had challenged Gaitskell for the party leadership. Crosland nominated and voted for [[James Callaghan]] in the leadership contest caused by Gaitskell's death on 18 January 1963. He rationalised his decision to back Callaghan on the basis that "We have to choose between a crook [Harold Wilson] and a drunk [George Brown]". However, Callaghan was eliminated after obtaining 41 votes, the margin in votes between Wilson and Brown in the final ballot. With Callaghan eliminated, Crosland's second wife wrote in her 1982 biography, he voted for George Brown in the second ballot, although with zero enthusiasm, and with little interest about the result, as he was opposed to both of the candidates now standing for the party leadership. Wilson won by 144 votes to Brown's 103 on 14 February 1963.

Although critical of Harold Wilson, and angry with him for his 1960 challenge to Gaitskell for the party leadership, Crosland respected him as a political operator. Under Wilson, Crosland was first appointed Brown's deputy in October 1964. In November 1964 Crosland and Brown told Wilson and Callaghan that ruling out [[devaluation]] was a mistake in the face of the economic crisis then under way. However, Crosland was not Brown's deputy for long.

== In government ==
On 22 January 1965, Wilson appointed Crosland [[Secretary of State for Education and Science]].

=== Grammar schools controversy ===
The ongoing campaign for [[Comprehensive school (England and Wales)|Comprehensive schools in England and Wales]] gained a major boost with [[Circular 10/65]], which as a statute rather than a [[Bill (proposed law)|Government Bill]] was controversial at the time, although a government motion in favour of the policy had been passed in January 1965.<ref>[http://www.socialisteducation.org.uk/CB2.htm "The right to a comprehensive education"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606144606/http://www.socialisteducation.org.uk/CB2.htm |date=6 June 2011 }}, Second Caroline Benn Memorial Lecture, given by Professor Clyde Chitty of Goldsmiths College, 16 November 2002</ref> Crosland's policy gained approval from local government; by 1979 over 90% of pupils were in comprehensive schools.<ref>Dennis Dean, "Circular 10/65 Revisited: The Labour Government and the "Comprehensive Revolution" in 1964-1965." ''Paedagogica historica'' 34.1 (1998): 63–91.</ref><ref>This development is examined at length in Chapter Eleven, "The Fall of the Meritocracy", of ''[[The Broken Compass]]'' {{cite book |last=Hitchens |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Hitchens |title=The Broken Compass: How British Politics Lost its Way |publisher=Continuum International Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84706-405-9}}</ref> In her [[biography]] published in 1982, [[Susan Crosland]] said her husband had told her "If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to destroy every fucking grammar school in England. And Wales and Northern Ireland."<ref name="Destroy">Susan Crosland, ''Tony Crosland'', 1982, p.148</ref>

Another major educational change was that presaged by his speech at Woolwich Polytechnic (now [[Greenwich University]]) establishing a 'binary system' of higher education, in which universities would be joined by polytechnic institutions which concentrated on high-level vocational skills.

=== Overseas student fees hike ===
In October 1966, a committee of ministers in the Labour government decided to increase university fees for overseas students. Two months later Crosland announced their decision which treated Commonwealth students for the first time as if they were foreign. Widespread protests, which erupted immediately, soon united a large number of influential people from across a wide spectrum from left-wing militant students to mildly conservative vice-chancellors.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41821117 ''Overseas Students in Britain: How Their Presence was Politicised in 1966–1967''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806024849/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41821117 |date=6 August 2018 }} J.M. LEE Minerva Vol. 36, No. 4 (WINTER 1998), pp. 305–321 Publisher Springer</ref>

=== 1967–1976 ===
Crosland subsequently served as [[President of the Board of Trade]] from September 1967 to October 1969. He was deeply disappointed not to have been made [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] after the November 1967 cabinet reshuffle which followed the devaluation of the pound. That job went to [[Roy Jenkins]] instead. Then he became [[Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning]] until the election defeat of June 1970.

Crosland was seen as a leader and intellectual guru of the "right wing" or "[[social democratic]]" wing of the Labour Party in the 1970s. In April 1972, he [[1972 Labour Party deputy leadership election|stood for the deputy leadership of the party]] after Roy Jenkins resigned. He polled 61 votes of the Parliamentary Labour Party and was eliminated in the first round. The contest was eventually won by [[Edward Short, Baron Glenamara|Edward Short]], who defeated [[Michael Foot]]. Crosland was embarrassed by the national press in January 1973 when it emerged he had been given a silver coffee pot donated by disgraced corrupt architect [[John Poulson]] when opening a school in [[Bradford]] in January 1966. It later transpired that the pot was only silver-plated, and therefore of trivial value.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

After Labour's return to power in March 1974, Crosland became [[Secretary of State for the Environment]]. He was instrumental in changing Transport policy on [[British Rail]] to be a higher fare fast intercity passenger service rather than its previous role as a general freight common carrier. He [[1976 Labour Party leadership election|contested the leadership]] in March 1976 following Wilson's resignation, but polled only 17 votes and finished bottom of the poll. After his elimination, he switched his support to the eventual winner James Callaghan, who duly rewarded Crosland by appointing him Foreign Secretary on 8 April 1976.

According to [[John P. Mackintosh]], the Wilson and Callaghan governments were dominated by Crosland's views on equality:
:Crosland’s ideas continued to be almost unchallenged and dominated the Labour governments of 1964–1970. [...] [T]he Labour Government which came into office in 1974 edged back towards a Croslandite position. [...] [I]f any ideas or policies could be said to have characterised Mr Callaghan's very matter-of-fact and cautious government, they were the continuation of an approach which Crosland had set out in 1956.<ref>''Ten Years of New Labour'', ed. Matt Beech and Simon Lee, Palgrave Macmillan, May 2008.</ref>

Crosland's time as foreign secretary was dominated by the [[Third Cod War]] and relations with [[Rhodesia]].  Crosland once quipped to his wife that "when I pop off and they cut open my heart, on it will be engraved 'fish' and 'Rhodesia'".<ref>He was referring to the tale that Queen [[Mary I of England]] had said that "[[Siege of Calais (1558)|Calais]] would be engraved on her heart" after that city was lost to the French.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lipsey |first1=David |title=In the Corridors of Power: An Autobiography |date=2012 |publisher=Biteback Publishing |isbn=978-1-84954-429-0 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HoO1AwAAQBAJ |language=en |access-date=7 May 2021 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212171549/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/In_the_Corridors_of_Power/HoO1AwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Early in his life Crosland had numerous gay affairs, including allegedly with [[Roy Jenkins]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10687788/Roy-Jenkins-male-lover-Tony-Crosland-tried-to-halt-his-marriage.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Keith | last=Perry | title=Roy Jenkins' male lover Tony Crosland tried to halt his marriage | date=10 March 2014 | access-date=5 April 2018 | archive-date=12 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312052615/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10687788/Roy-Jenkins-male-lover-Tony-Crosland-tried-to-halt-his-marriage.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/16/double-lives-a-history-of-sex-and-secrecy-at-westminster|title=Double lives – a history of sex and secrecy at Westminster|date=16 May 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-date=1 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201140212/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/16/double-lives-a-history-of-sex-and-secrecy-at-westminster|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McCarthy |first=James |title=A string of affairs and a 'gay relationship': the secret life of Roy Jenkins, the best PM Britain never had |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/string-affairs-gay-relationship-secret-6921941 |date=6 April 2014 |work=walesonline |access-date=8 June 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203746/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/string-affairs-gay-relationship-secret-6921941 |url-status=live }}</ref> He later described the relationship as "an exceedingly close and intense friendship."<ref>{{cite book | last = Campbell | first = John | title = Roy Jenkins: A Well-Rounded Life | page=66 | publisher = Jonathan Cape | year = 2014 }}</ref>

Crosland benefited from the patronage of [[Hugh Dalton]], who, in 1951, wrote to [[Richard Crossman]]: "Thinking of Tony, with all his youth and beauty and gaiety and charm... I weep. I am more fond of that young man than I can put into words."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloch |first=Michael |title=Closet Queens |publisher=[[Little, Brown]] |year=2015 |page=230 |isbn=978-1-4087-0412-7}}</ref> According to Nicholas Davenport,<ref>{{cite book |last=Davenport |first=Nicholas |title=Memoirs of a City Radical |publisher=Weidenfeld |page=171 |year=1974}}</ref> Dalton's unrequited feelings for Crosland became an embarrassing joke within the Labour Party.

Crosland married Hilary Sarson in November 1952, divorcing after five years, though the marriage had effectively ended after a year. Crosland had numerous affairs with other women. He remarried on 7 February 1964 to Susan Catling, an American from [[Baltimore]] resident in London whom he had met in 1956,<ref>Julia Langdon [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/feb/28/susan-crosland-obituary Obituary: Susan Crosland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923005332/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/feb/28/susan-crosland-obituary |date=23 September 2016 }}, ''The Guardian'', 28 February 2011</ref> and, in contrast to his first marriage, this was very happy and contented. [[Susan Crosland]] was a successful journalist and writer. There were no children of either marriage, although Crosland's second wife had two daughters from a previous marriage.<ref name="times19779221">Obituary, ''The Times'', London, 21 February 1977</ref> He persuaded his step-daughters to abandon their elite private schools to attend [[Holland Park Comprehensive]].<ref name="Crosland2001">{{Cite web
| title = Forget the school, it's the teaching that counts
| last = Crosland
| first = Susan
| work = The Telegraph
| date = 14 February 2001
| access-date = 6 June 2016
| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1322534/Forget-the-school-its-the-teaching-that-counts.html
| quote = When Sheila asked us if she could go to Holland Park Comprehensive, I called on the headmistress of St Paul's, who told me we were using Sheila as a political pawn, but that it probably didn't matter too much as she was 'rather wet'. 'In what sense?' I inquired. 'She never wants to play sports.'
| archive-date = 9 August 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160809142651/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1322534/Forget-the-school-its-the-teaching-that-counts.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Susan Crosland died on 26 February 2011.<ref name="leonard">Dick Leonard {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110315174712/http://www.nextleft.org/2011/03/tribute-to-susan-crosland.html A Tribute to Susan Crosland]}} Next Left, 6 March 2011</ref>

Crosland was a keen [[Association football|football]] fan and an avid viewer of the television show ''[[Match of the Day]]''. He insisted on taking the then American Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]], a football fan, to [[Blundell Park]] to watch [[Grimsby Town]] play [[Gillingham F.C.|Gillingham]] in April 1976 when the two met for the first time.<ref name="Why grassrootsy">{{cite news |last=Hyde |first=Marina |author-link=Marina Hyde |title=Why grassrootsy protests are now a 'Must' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2010/mar/04/red-knights-fans-protests-manchester-united |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=4 March 2010 |access-date=30 August 2012 |archive-date=6 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906111724/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2010/mar/04/red-knights-fans-protests-manchester-united |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 1976, when Kissinger bowed out after the [[Republican Party (U.S.)|Republican]] [[1976 United States Presidential election|defeat]], he watched a football match with Crosland at [[Stamford Bridge (stadium)|Stamford Bridge]] between [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] and [[Wolverhampton Wanderers]].<ref name="Why grassrootsy" />

== Labour revisionist ==
After losing his seat in 1955, he wrote (as C.A.R. Crosland) ''[[The Future of Socialism]]'' which was published in autumn 1956. This became a seminal work for the moderate British left. (A revised 50th anniversary edition was published in 2006.) In the book he outlines the need for socialism to adapt to modern circumstances – a context from which the use of the term "revisionism" has its origins in Britain, despite the gradualism associated with the [[Fabian Society]] since the end of the nineteenth century.

Labour revisionism was a powerful ideological tendency within the Party in the 1950s and 1960s, taking intellectual sustenance from the Crosland book, and political leadership from [[Hugh Gaitskell]]. The goal was to reformulate socialist principles, and bring the Labour Party policies up to date with the changing British society and economy. Revisionism rejected the view that socialism ought to be primarily identified with the ownership of the means of production. That meant that continuous nationalisation was not a central goal. The focus should rather be on regulating the market, improving workers' pay and conditions, and public investment.<ref name="labourlist.org">{{cite web | title='The most underrated influence on today's Labour government? Anthony Crosland' | url=https://labourlist.org/2025/08/anthony-crosland-rachel-reeves-labour-government/?source=email-labour-list&link_id=9&can_id=e6fb13356885c325615d863d74dcef0a&email_referrer=email_2848059&email_subject=anthony-crosland-20 }}</ref> Second, was a series of political values focused on personal liberty, social welfare, and equality and "a more joyful society".<ref name="labourlist.org"/> Themes of destroying or overthrowing the rich and elite were downplayed in favour of policies of high taxation, more widespread educational opportunity, and expanded social services. Revisionists insisted on the necessity of a market-oriented mixed economy with a central role for capitalism and entrepreneurship.<ref>Haseler, Stephen, ''The Gaitskellites: Revisionism in the British Labour Party 1951–64'' (Springer, 1969).</ref><ref>F.M. Leventhal, ''Twentieth-century Britain: an encyclopedia'' (Peter Lang, 2002) pp. 435–436.</ref>

Crosland was himself an active member of the Fabian Society, contributing to the ''New Fabian Essays'' collection, which saw the emerging generation of Labour thinkers and politicians attempt to set out a new programme for Labour following the Attlee governments of 1945 to 1951. In the 1951 essay "The Transition from Capitalism" he claimed that "by 1951 Britain had, in all the essentials, ceased to be a capitalist country" as a result of the establishment of the [[Welfare state in the United Kingdom|welfare state]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kynaston |first=David |author-link=David Kynaston |title=Family Britain 1951-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/familybritain1950000kyna/page/82 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |date=2009 |page=[https://archive.org/details/familybritain1950000kyna/page/82 82] |isbn=978-0-7475-8385-1}}</ref> In particular, Crosland wished to challenge the dominance of [[Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield|Sidney]] and [[Beatrice Webb]] in Fabian thinking, challenging their austere, managerialist, centralising, "top-down", bureaucratic Fabianism with a more liberal vision of the good society and the good life, writing in ''The Future of Socialism'' that "Total abstinence and a good filing system are not now the right signposts to the socialist utopia. Or at least, if they are, some of us will fall by the wayside".

Two further books of essays by Crosland were published: ''The Conservative Enemy'' (London, Cape, 1962) and ''Socialism Now, and Other Essays'' (London, Cape, 1974).

== Death ==
Crosland and his wife bought a converted mill at [[Adderbury]] in Oxfordshire in 1975, as well as having a home at Lansdowne Road in [[Notting Hill]], London. On the afternoon of 13 February 1977, Crosland was at his home in Adderbury, working on a paper on the [[Rhodesia]]n situation, and was planning that evening to complete a major foreign policy speech on [[détente]]. However, he suffered a massive [[cerebral haemorrhage]] and fell into a coma. He died six days later, on 19 February, at [[Radcliffe Infirmary]] in Oxford, aged 58. Crosland was succeeded as foreign secretary by [[David Owen]], who delivered his speech to the Diplomatic Writers Association on 3 March 1977. The following day, Crosland's ashes were scattered at sea near Grimsby.

His papers are held at the [[London School of Economics]].<ref>{{cite web |title=London School of Economics and Political Science Archives catalogue |url=http://archives.lse.ac.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=CROSLAND |url-status=dead |access-date=16 November 2010 |publisher=London School of Economics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930020635/https://archives.lse.ac.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=CROSLAND |archive-date=30 September 2020}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Eduard Bernstein]]
* [[Roy Hattersley]]
* [[Reformism]]
* [[Dick Leonard]]

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Crosland, Susan. ''Tony Crosland'' (Cape, 1982), {{ISBN|978-0-224-01787-9}}
* Francis, Martin. "Mr Gaitskell's Ganymede? Re-assessing Crosland's the future of socialism", in ''Contemporary British History'' 11.2 (1997): 50–64.
* Jeffreys, Kevin. ''Anthony Crosland'' (1999), {{ISBN|978-1-86066-157-0}}
* King, Stephen. 2018. ''[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/334997551.pdf The Ministerial Career of Anthony Crosland 1964–1977]''. PhD thesis, Newcastle University.
*Kogan, Maurice. "Anthony Crosland: intellectual and politician", in ''Oxford Review of Education'' 32.1 (2006): 71–86.
* Leonard, Dick, ed. ''Crosland and New Labour'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1999), {{ISBN|978-0-333-73990-7}}
* Lipsey, David, and Dick Leonard, eds. ''The Socialist Agenda: Crosland's Legacy'' (Cape, 1981), {{ISBN|978-0-224-01886-9}}
* Meredith, Stephen. "Mr Crosland's nightmare? New Labour and equality in historical perspective", in ''British Journal of Politics and International Relations'' 8.2 (2006): 238–255.
* Nuttall, Jeremy. "The Labour party and the improvement of minds: the case of Tony Crosland", in ''Historical Journal'' 46.1 (2003): 133–153.
* [[Giles Radice|Radice, Giles]]''Friends and Rivals: Crosland, Jenkins and Healey'' (2002) {{ISBN|978-0-316-85547-1}}
* Reisman, D. A. "Anthony Crosland on equality and state", in ''Journal of Income Distribution'' 7.2 (1997): 161–173.

=== Primary sources ===
*''The Tony Benn Diaries – Out of the wilderness 1963–1967'' (1987, Hutchinson) {{ISBN|978-0-09-958670-8}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200930020635/https://archives.lse.ac.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=CROSLAND Tony Crosland papers] LSE Archives
*{{Hansard-contribs|mr-anthony-crosland|Anthony Crosland}}
*{{NPG name}}

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