The People's Rights, first published in December 1909, was designed, in Churchill's words, 'as a guide for some and an armoury for others' in the general election campaign which followed the rejection of the 1909 Budget by the Tory-dominated House of Lords. Distilling the ideas and language of a series of brilliant speeches, Churchill created in The People's Rights a powerful plea for 'a great policy of social reconstruction and reorganization'.

In the years before 1914, Churchill's energy an enthusiasm for radical schemes of social and constitutional reform were unquenchable. Political enemies and jealous colleagues sometimes dismissed his work as nothing more than the product of ambitious opportunism. But, opportunist and man of ambition though he was, he was nevertheless inspired by a profound concern for the welfare of the working population. Churchill supported and initiated Liberal reforms because he believed in them. None of his contemporaries in the Liberal cabinet delved more deeply into the underlying causes of contemporary political and social problems. Few could match his powers of argument and exposition in defence of Liberal principles on the platform.

After sixty years, his unequivocal denunciations of the House of Lords ('a lingering relic of the feudal order'), 'the unnatural gap between rich and poor', 'the divorce of the people from the land', 'the swift increase of vulgar, joyless luxury', continue to command assent. 'Churchill', an eminent critic recently pronounced, 'had no vision of the future'. The People's Rights, forged in the furnace of controversy, eloquently contradicts this judgment. Three generations after its first appearance, its phrases can still move, its aspirations still challenge an imperfect society.

Cameron Hazlehurst, a Research Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, contributes a short introduction on Churchill's early political ideas and the historical background to The People's Rights.