In the footsteps of George Lansbury: lost radical who led an East End rebellion

Kings and queens are immortalised in statues, prime ministers are remembered with official portraits, but an opposition leader best known for his pacifism before the second world war has to make do with a fading mural, knocked up on a crumbling wall beside an east London housing estate in the middle of the night by a local rugby player.

The mural of George Lansbury, who led the Labour party from 1932 to 1935 before resigning over his opposition to rearmament, may not be the world’s finest piece of street art. But it depicts a lesser known and arguably more important moment of his political career – one that only those with a keen interest in Labour party history will know much about.

Before leading the national party,