BRITISH POLITICS - THOROLD, Bernard (compiler).

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Archive of political literature and ephemera from the 1974 and 1979 general elections and the 1975 EEC referendum. An extraordinary collection illustrating the British national elections of the 1970s: the scrapbooks preserved by Bernard Thorold, a press officer of the Conservative Party, containing a vast assemblage of political buttons, leaflets, posters, and other electioneering literature from across the political spectrum, covering the two 1974 general elections, the 1979 election, and the 1975 referendum on the Common Market.The two 1974 elections returned Labour to government, first with no majority and then with a small majority. The 1975 referendum confirmed the British electorate's wish to remain in what became the European Union. The 1979 election saw the election of Margaret Thatcher as the first female prime minister of Great Britain. The collection preserves a range of ephemeral material. Thorold kept small stickers for clothes and large format display posters. He preserved formal manifestos and jocular leaflets. He focuses on the Conservatives, Liberals, and Labour but also collects material from the margins, including the National Front and Communist Party. The albums bulge with material other than paper: rosettes, buttons, and photographs.As Thorold worked in the press office, he reviewed upcoming speeches. Typed and manuscript drafts by prominent figures are included, some with corrections. He kept many newspaper clippings, presumably some of which had his in

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