The Winter of Discontent Thirty Years On

2009/11/24 by Colin Hay · 39 citations
Social Sciences · #Political and Economic history of UK and US #Context (archaeology) #Government (linguistics) #Political science #Economic history #Stock (firearms) #History #Political economy #Sociology #Philosophy #Archaeology

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1467-923x.2009.02052.x

published in The Political Quarterly 80(4), 545-552 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2009/11/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

Thirty years on, and in the context of our own crisis, it is perhaps useful to take stock of the last Winter of Discontent. The industrial strife that beset the Callaghan government in the winter of 1978/79 was seen at the time as a key factor in Labour's defeat in the general election of 1979; but its legacy is considerable and its significance enduring. These four themed essays come from a public seminar at the British Academy to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Winter of Discontent. Colin Hay argues that the Winter of Discontent was, in key respects, a manufactured crisis lived, experienced and responded to through a very particular construction of the events that is difficult to reconcile with the evidence itself. Reponses by Lords Baker, Lea and Lipsey follow and the section concludes with a transcribed and edited version of the lively discussion which ensued.

Cited by

• Winter of Discontent [wikipedia]

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