"When Neil Kinnock became leader of the Labour Party in 1983, the party was at its lowest ebb since the Second World War. Internal warring, problems of policy presentation and personality, as well as a formidable foe in Margaret Thatcher, conspired to keep Labour out of office for another fourteen years. In that time, however, the party was transformed, and the changes began under Neil Kinnock." "Though Kinnock was much maligned for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in 1992, his reputation has now been fully rehabilitated. Modernisers, foremost among them Tony Blair, have paid tribute to his vital role in vanquishing the 'loony left' and initiating the changes which, by the early 1990s, had moved the party to the centre ground. Kinnock's post-parliamentary career at the European Commission, where he is currently Vice-President, has won him new respect and made him a central figure as Europe moves towards further enlargement. Kinnock is specifically charged with radical modernisation of the Commission and with strengthening the efforts to combat fraud and mismanagement - tasks which echo his earlier struggles to achieve crucial changes in the Labour Party." "Martin Westlake has had complete access to his subject, as well as his papers and archives. Essential reading for the politically informed, Kinnock is a balanced, thorough and insightful study of an extraordinary political leader and a kaleidoscopic life that travels from the valleys of South Wales to the corridors of power in Westminster, Strasbourg and Brussels."--BOOK JACKET.