The Gang of Three gets into the nitty-gritty of Labour politics in the 1970s. It opens with the resignation of Roy Jenkins as deputy leader in 1972 in a desperate attempt to quell the party’s growing hostility to the Common Market. He holds a council of war with Anthony Crosland, his old Oxford chum, and they discuss their next moves while awaiting the arrival of Denis Healey whom they both heartily detest.
The writers, Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky, capture the characters beautifully. Crosland considers himself more gifted and mature than Jenkins but he hasn’t yet made his mark by holding one of the great offices of state. He boasts about his record during the 1960s when he destroyed the grammar school system and cancelled the Channel tunnel. Both achievements make him deeply proud. And he suggests that Jenkins (who has already served as home secretary and chancellor) might be able to boost his popularity by stressing his lowly origins as the son of a south Wales coal miner. Jenkins, whose father graduated from the mines to the House of Commons, says he has no wish to portray himself as ‘a sooty-faced Dickensian urchin’. He sees his role as a political prophet on a mission to share his wisdom with the voters. ‘Haven’t they suffered enough?’ asks Crosland.
Then the action flashes back to Oxford in the 1940s and we see the young men enjoying a brief infatuation. Jenkins denies that their affair amounts to anything more than verbal expressions of love but Crosland disagrees: ‘I have some scratch marks that tell a different story.’ Then we return to the 1970s as they discuss the menace of the hard left represented by Tony Benn.
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