D:Ream’s hit song Things Can Only Get Better was Labour’s campaign song. This poster echoes that optimistic – if vague – promise of a new start after 18 years of Conservative rule.
The extent to which Tony Blair had become the face of Labour was confirmed by his portrait dominating the party’s manifesto. Blair was incredibly popular with millions of voters and personified how far Labour had changed and was now in touch with…
Belonging to the ‘rock ‘n’ roll generation’ and a former lead singer of the band Ugly Rumours, Blair had a special appeal to some of Britain’s most popular musicians. Exponents of ‘Brit Pop’ like Noel Gallagher of Oasis saw in Blair a sympathetic and…
Ever since it became Britain’s most popular TV soap, politicians of all parties have visited Coronation Street. Tony Blair was therefore following a long established tradition by posing with the cast, including keen Labour supporter Liz Dawn (who…
Not everybody in the party agreed with New Labour’s direction. In Islington North Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign material made no reference to Blair or New Labour or even its five Pledges!
Labour ran as a pro-EU party. But not everybody was keen on Europe. UKIP contested a general election for the first time in 1997 while the Referendum Party won 811,827 votes for its demand that all Britons be allowed to decide whether the country…
In the run up to the 1997 general election, the Conservative produced an infamous ‘Demon Eyes’ poster which showed Tony Blair as the Devil.
It illustrated their claim that Labour had not changed and that Blair would say anything to win power.…
Locally Conservative candidates tried various ways of stemming the Labour tide: invoking the threat of EU federalism, Labour’s threat to the economy and its record in local government. None of them worked.