London's Ours

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In the early 1980s, London's city-wide authority, the Greater London Council, embarked upon a radical experiment in how to run the capital, which transformed British politics. Camp aigning and energetic, the GLC made extensive use of poster campaigns, public art and popular events to take aim against racism, sexism, nuclear war - and eventually, their own abolition. After the 1981 GLC election victory, a Labour paper ran with the headline, "London's Ours!", a celebration but also a guiding principle of the GLC's approach to tackling London's inequality: expanding who could claim their right to the city and its resources, and who got a fair chance to succeed. Offering an ambitious alternative to Thatcherism, GLC Leader Ken Livingstone was a thorn in the side of central government, famously taunting Westminster with a running total of unemployment figures from the roof of County Hall opposite the Houses of Parliament. This confrontational attitude, combined with the pioneering work of committees addressing overlooked groups - including women, ethnic minorities, gay rights, and Londoners with disabilities - put social equality at the GLC's political core, championing a genuinely inclusive vision of what it meant to be a 'Londoner'. This book documents the remarkable visual culture of the GLC, with over 250 images. Sometimes provocative, frequently humorous, it provides a unique picture of a remarkable period in British politics and of London itself. Show more