Tony Blair once raged against 'the forces of conservatism', but Paul Embery reminds us that Labour, like its lost working class voters, has a history of social and cultural conservatism. If it wants to win back those lost voters, it will need to rediscover the conservatism that makes solidarity possible, and to do that its leaders should start by reading this hard-hitting and painfully honest book.
Nick Timothy, author of Remaking One Nation: The Future of Conservatism, and Daily Telegraph columnist
Lucid, angry and brave.
The Mirror
You probably won't agree with all of Mr. Embery's policy prescriptions, but he will force you to think outside your usual political grooves.
Wall Street Journal
There's a lot here that Labour should take on board.
The Glasgow HeraldA polemic in the tradition of the Levellers, the Chartists and the trade union movement. Paul Embery's brave book shows that Labour cannot win without the working class. The future of the left is a politics of people, place and belonging.
Adrian Pabst, Professor of Politics at the University of Kent and author of The Demons of Liberal Democracy Most voters lean left on economics and conservative on culture but no one represents them. Embery delivers a tight, passionately argued plea for the Left to rediscover its roots in social solidarity. Despised confirms Embery's place as a leading force in the emerging left-conservative movement.
Eric Kaufmann, author of Whiteshift
[Paul Embery] is one of the most interesting, insightful and original voices to have emerged in British journalism for some time.
Douglas Murray, Spectator columnist, author of The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity
Paul Embery is a gifted writer with political vision and great courage. This book tells the story of how Labour lost its way and can find it once more.
Maurice Glasman
For anyone who wants to see a Labour government again, read this book. It's a bitter pill to swallow but it's essential medicine for some parts of the Left if they are serious about renewing the bond with the people they were founded to represent.
Gloria de Piero, former Labour MP for Ashfield
Paul Embery has become a key witness to the death of blue-collar social democracy in Britain. In his home borough of Barking and Dagenham, and in British politics more generally, he describes how the combination of hyper-globalisation and identity politics turned working class politics upside down. Even if you are familiar with the critique of identity politics you should read this book, not only is it intellectually sharp but it is the account of someone who has experienced the change as a personal and collective tragedy.
David Goodhart, author of The Road to Somewhere
Many on the left will hate this book and reject it wholesale. A more constructive approach would be one that engages with the arguments put forward by Paul Embery, a union activist and an authentic working class Dagenham voice.
Jon Cruddas, MP for Dagenham and Rainham
Embery's book deserves to be read by those on both sides of the political spectrum who are open to the prospect of a post-liberal society rooted in relationality, solidarity, and the common good.
Quillette
'Despised: Why the Modern Left Loathes the Working Class' is an incisive and thought-provoking examination of recent British political history... Anyone looking for a valuable summary of the changing nature of the left and the cultural and political divides in recent British history should add 'Despised' to their reading list.
Entertainment Focus
fluent and passionate
Times Literary Supplement