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Hello. This thread may contain traces of peanuts, Noel Gallagher, and a blackberry flavoured jelly bean carved into the face of John Major.
In April this year we would have launched an exhibition all about UK General Elections, and the history of who gets to vote. Unfortunately we didn’t get to launch it, but in the meantime here are some of the items we planned to feature:
We start off with the 1800s, the Great Reform Acts, the Peterloo massacre, the chartists, and women’s suffrage. Campaigning leaflets from the 1885 General Election would have been on display, where 100% of women were still disenfranchised and around 40% of men.
Some beautiful election posters would have been hung from the railings.
Here’s a copper block William Lovett ( @Fabian Society archives). He founded the London Working Men’s Association which published the People’s Charter. It demanded reforms including secret ballot, suffrage for men over age 21, and the abolition of the property qualification.
A fascinating letter from James Bronterre O’Brien, an Irish chartist, written from Lancaster prison where O’Brien was serving 18 months for seditious speeches. Thankfully, @paulrkeenan had expertly transcribed this challenging handwriting for us.
A wonderful picture of Anne Knight, a Quaker from Chelmsford who formed one of the first women’s suffrage organisations in Sheffield. The sign reads: “By tortured millions, By the Divine Redeemer, Enfranchise Humanity, Bid the Outraged World, BE FREE”
Some election campaigning from Labour candidate Neville Sandelson, showing the election results being announced - he lost to Conservative Bill Deedes in the 1955 Ashford Constituency.
...some more of these lovely photographs!
Up until the Representation of the People Act 1948, if you were a graduate of @LSENews you could vote twice – once for the “London University Constituency” and once for the constituency you lived in.
Items from the 1992 general election where @thorntonschocs released a poll for the election where you could buy your favourite party leader in the form of a jelly bean. 34% of the John Major jelly heads sold, compared with the 42% majority the Conservatives gained in the election
Next up, guest curator @ekpizarro looked at the 1997 General Election, where the Labour Party won a landslide election led by Tony Blair.
@ekpizarro also explored the founding of the Labour Party. This photograph shows the National Council of the Independent Labour Party 1899-1900, with Keir Hardie and Ramsay MacDonald who would go on to become the first Labour Prime Minister in 1924.
We would have also explored the origins of the Conservative Party, with the Tamworth Manifesto displayed with election manifestos and a Spitting Image cartoon from 1988 imagining what politics would look like in 2019 (kindly donated by @activismlearn)
Next up, guest curator @francesahumi from @EdenLSE who worked hard to research our archive collections, analysing shifting notions of identity, race and empire. On display would have been the items Francesca used for her research such as manifestos and campaigning leaflets.
We planned to have a videowall slideshow showcasing the fantastic work of @democraticaudit alongside voting reform, guest curated by @alicepark, including @LSEPress’ first open access book “The UK’s Changing Democracy” https://doi.org/10.31389/book1
We probably would have found a reason to hang this poster, even though we’re not quite sure when it was produced (a member of the public found it in their attic and very kindly gave it to us!).
And finally, we would have had an interactive board where visitors were invited to contribute: “You’ve just been made Prime Minister. What’s your first policy?”
We had some fantastic events planned, and our guest curators @francescahumi and @ekpizarro put a lot of work into it, so we’re very grateful for everyone involved. We hope to do a physical or online exhibition of this at some point in the future, so stay tuned!
