Roy Jenkins (1920-2003), an old-fashioned Welshman, has resigned from his post as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Tony Crosland, superior and sarcastic, (1918-1977) wants his support to stand. So starts The Gang of Three, which covers the period up to the seeds of modernisation (or destruction) of the party’s values.
The third member of this real-life political triad is Denis Healey (1917-2015), ambitious, centrist, and conniving. At the start of the play, Wilson is leader and in power: by the end, Thatcher has her landslide, and the split to form the SDP under Jenkins’s leadership is on the horizon.
This play, written by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky, is loosely inspired by real events, twisting and turning through the machinations of what passes for democracy. In the attempted coup against perceived left-wing bias in the party, parallels may be drawn with recent Labour shenanigans.
Only Healey shows any hint of happy domesticity with the mention of his wife Edna. Crosland is presented as having numerous marriages (a fiction, as he divorced just once, but did conceal numerous gay affairs). Jenkins talks about taking actress Shirley MacLaine to the theatre.
Politically, they are all seemingly in it for the good of the party. Crosland has written a history of socialism in the 1950s and, despite being the architect of comprehensive schools, seems a man of the past. Jenkins seeks increasing positions of power, while Healey is drawn as almost a representation of the devil, needling the others into compliance.
Colin Tierney, a little slight for the role of the bulky and domineering Healey, registers most strongly, although Alan Cox‘s Crosland has the stronger wisecracks and bonhomie. Hywel Morgan’s Jenkins falls somewhere in the middle.
All three were regarded as brilliant politicians on the centre-right wing of the party, not inclusive, not idealistic but ‘professional politicians’, all Oxford graduates bonding over their claret and boys’ club networks.
On the left side of the party, mentioned but not seen, were Michael Foot (an Oxford graduate and journalist who embraced the Tribune) and Tony Benn (born into a family which would eventually make him a Viscount, a right he renounced).
The Gang of Three is characterised by the spectre of both men: Foot of course would be both Deputy Leader (1976) and Leader of the Labout Party (1980); Benn held Cabinet posts for Industry and Energy between 1974-1979 and remained a very vocal backbencher.
For Khan and Salinsky’s purposes, The Gang of Three is a game of ‘you scratch my back …’ that relies on trust, friendship, and blind faith. Crosland seeks Jenkins’s backing, Jenkins seeks Healey’s, and so on. When it seems Labour is unelectable, Jenkins invites Healey to jump ship.
This 90-minute play stops at that point. We’ve passed through various Deputy/Leader contests and some robust discussions about Europe, the IMF, privatisation, and more. A scene set at Oxford in 1940 between a young Crosland and Jenkins feels out of step, but suggests a code stronger than honour between the men.
Jamie Platt’s lighting design suggests more than party colours – even a sense of the field of battle. Dominic Brennan’s sound design uses news, speeches and songs from the period to add colour and cover scene changes.
Director Kirsty Patrick Ward allows the three characters room to grow. Each has their own soliloquy or aside to give an insight into their thoughts, but this never feels forced. You probably couldn’t fully trust any one of these, though.
The Gang of Three is good, finding a strong story in a party split that has never been fully healed. By the time Labour returned to power in 1997 after nearly 20 years in opposition, they were branded as ‘New’. Now, in 2025, they attempt to navigate a path that tilts ever more centre right than ever before.
I’m giving this 3.5 stars.
The Gang of Three continues at King’s Head Theatre until 1 Jun with details here.
Image credit: Manuel Harlan