Launched in 1913 as a radical organ of the left, the New Statesman 's origins can be traced back to the Fabian Society. It was some of the more prominent Fabians, Sidney Webb and George Bernard Shaw among them, who first conceived the idea of a weekly magazine, believing it the best means of propagating their values among the educated classes. From its inception, the New Statesman was editorially committed to analysis of issues of public and international interest and the promotion of rational values in society. Launched with a budget of 5000 and a pre-publication subscription list of 2300, its influence rose in the post-war years and the appointment of Kingsley Martin as Editor in 1931 coincided with the weekly's merger with competitors Athenaeum and Nation . A few years characterised by uncertainty of direction followed, but by 1945 the New Statesman had attained a weekly net circulation of 70,000, with an estimated six readers per single issue sold. At its peak in the mid-1960s, circulation had exceeded 90,000 and the magazine was indisputably the leading voice in political commentary in the United Kingdom.
From the guide to the New Statesman, Archive, 1944-1988, (University of Sussex Library)
