10 Years of All That Is Solid

Tony Blair and George W Bush were mainstays of the political scene. Social media was confined to a tiny niche of hobbyists and nerds. Nigel Farage wasn't a household name. And pop music, generally speaking, was better than it is today (no, that's not old age speaking, it's a fact). One Friday evening in 2006, an obscure PhD student who happened to be a member of an obscure Trotskyist outfit in an obscure corner of the country sat himself down and started writing. 10 years on and countless evenings later, the dullard is still writing.

Yes, December 8th 2016 marks a whole decade of blogging. While most of the '06 scene have passed onto lighter forms of entertainment and/or greater, better things, here we bloody well are.

I'll have a few things to say about what's happened to politics blogging over the course of those 10 years in the next post, but until then here are the all-time greatest hits, the posts that have commanded most attention in terms of raw audience numbers. Some of them are good, at least in my own eyes. Some of them bad. And others a bit pointless. Glancing down the list, readers might spot a certain fondness for lists. I cannot tell a lie. As a kid, ever since compiling a compendium of every Transformer then known (Generation One to the cognoscenti) I've had a compulsion to list things. Hence it's fitting that so many should make the cut of the 100 most read posts, and that this blog marks its 10 years with its own list.

Here's to the next decade!

100. Ken Livingstone, Labour and Anti-Semitism (April 2016)
99. Top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2013 (January 2014)
98. Why is the BBC Silent About Tory Electoral Fraud? (May 2016)
97. After Neoliberalism (August 2016)
96. Who is White Van Dan? (November 2014)
95. When Men's Bodies Meet Side-Saddle Trunks (June 2014)
94. Doncaster SWP: Why We Resigned (July 2010)
93. Kenneth Tong and the Fame Game (January 2011)
92. The Far Left and the 2015 UK General Election (April 2015)
91. The Difficulty Writing About Video Games (December 2012)
90. Top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2015 (January 2016)
89. Islam and the New Atheists (July 2013)
88. Problems with Porn (December 2007)
87. The Far Left and Revolutionary Identity Politics (November 2013)
86. How to Destroy a Blog Post (June 2013)
85. SWP: Life on the Revolutionary Treadmill (January 2013)
84. Lessons of the Labour Leadership Campaigns (September 2015)
83. Egypt: Revolution, Democracy and Leadership (February 2011)
82. What has Happened to Germaine Greer? (May 2013)
81. Top 100 Tweeting Bloggers 2013 (December 2013)
80. The Work Programme: Still Worse Than Useless (January 2013)
79. Post-Materialism and Class (August 2008)
78. Why I Didn't Support the March on Stoke (February 2013)
77. Doctor Who: Sexism and Audience (December 2012)
76. Is Corbynism a Social Movement? (August 2016)
75. The SWP: A Short Obituary (March 2013)
74. Celebrity Strikebreakers (November 2010)
73. Sharon O'Donnell and Jumping the Gun (January 2014)
72. Top 100 Tweeting Politics Commentators 2014 (December 2014)
71. Lindsey German Resigns from SWP! (February 2010)
70. Porn as Ideology (December 2009)
69. Zombies and Ideology (November 2010)
68. What Next for Politics? (September 2014)
67. Where Now for the SWP? (January 2013)
66. Gramsci, Althusser and Hegemonic Struggle (August 2009)
65. Splits and the Socialist Party (August 2013)
64. Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (July 2010)
63. Top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2012 (January 2013)
62. SWP Bullies London Black Revolutionaries (November 2014)
61. Dear Liz Kendall (May 2015)
60. The Far Left after the Election (May 2010)
59. It's Time to Bash Benefit-Bashing (October 2012)
58. Mary Daly, Death of a Feminist (January 2010)
57. Ian Watkins and Narcissism (December 2013)
56. Top 100 Tweeting Politics Commentators 2015 (December 2015)
55. The Far Left and the 2010 UK General Election (April 2010)
54. Chris Bambery Resigns from the SWP (April 2011)
53. The SWP, Rape, and Revolutionary Justice (January 2013)
52. Top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2014 (January 2015)
51. Far Left UK General Election 2015 Results (May 2015)
50. Why the Establishment Doesn't Get Corbynism (August 2016)
49. Splitting the Labour Party (July 2016)
48. Machiavelli and Marxist Politics (July 2010)
47. Roy Bhaskar: Worst Writer Ever (October 2010)
46. Top 100 Tweeting Bloggers 2010 (December 2010)
45. Jeremy Corbyn in Stoke-on-Trent (September 2016)
44. Sex, Power Play and Trotskyism (January 2014)
43. Melanie Phillips: Marketing Bigotry (January 2011)
42. Top 100 Worst Blogs Poll (July 2010)
41. What is Happening to the Labour Party? (July 2016)
40. Whither Left Unity? (November 2013)
39. Claim Benefits? Then Bank Charges Are Illegal (March 2013)
38. The Guardian's 1,000 Books You Must Read (February 2009)
37. Five Books on Marx and Marxism (May 2013)
36. Ed Balls for Labour Leader (August 2010)
35. Cadre Parties and Mass Parties (November 2009)
34. Class and Ideology in Sex Party Secrets (January 2015)
33. Hitler, Charisma and Leadership (November 2012)
32. Why I Resigned from the Socialist Party (February 2010)
31. Foucault, Power and Sex (March 2007)
30. Against the Corbyn Coup (June 2016)
29. Raoul Moat, Gazza and the Media Circus (July 2010)
28. The Depravity of the SWP (October 2013)
27. EU Referendum: What Would Trotsky Do? (June 2016)
26. Lindsey Oil Refinery: The Media's Silence on the Cost (February 2009)
25. The UK's 100 Worst Political Blogs (September 2010)
24. Sexism and Abuse of Power in the SWP (March 2013)
23. Dawn Porter Free Lover (October 2008)
22. UK's Top 50 Worst Politics Blogs 2013 (September 2013)
21. Jeremy Corbyn's Prime Ministerial Speech (September 2016)
20. The Meaning of Conchita Wurst (May 2014)
19. Tommy Sheridan on Trial (October 2010)
18. Gramsci, Intellectuals and Class (January 2010)
17. Jeremy Corbyn and the SWP (October 2016)
16. The Perfect Vagina (August 2008)
15. Critiquing Doctor Who: Deep Breath (August 2014)
14. Is there Bias on BBC Question Time? (November 2012)
13. Top 100 Indie/Alternative Songs of the 90s (August 2015)
12. Top 100 Tweeting Bloggers 2012 (December 2012)
11. Louis Theroux Behind Bars (January 2008)
10. Dogging and Dogging Tales (April 2013)
9. Martin Smith Resigns from the SWP (July 2013)
8. Support for the SWP Central Committee (February 2013)
7. Why I Voted for Jeremy Corbyn (September 2016)
6. Top 100 Dance Songs of the 80s (December 2010)
5. Reluctant Corbynism (August 2016)
4. Natalija Belova and The Sun's Benefit Lies (January 2013)
3. Top 100 Dance Songs of the 00s (December 2009)
2. Top 100 Dance Songs of the 90s (August 2010)
1. Top 100 Dance Songs of the 70s (August 2014)