The 1980s in Britain was a decade shaped by conflict and transformation. Under Margaret Thatcher’s government, sweeping economic policies drove deindustrialisation, closing coal mines, shipyards and steelworks that had supported communities for generations. This rupture was met with organised resistance. Riots, strikes and protests marked the period, exposing the widening divide between working-class Britain and the emerging world of finance and big business.

Yet the 1980s were also years of significant cultural momentum. New Wave and New Romantic movements redefined music and style, while Street Soul and the arrival of House music from the United States opened new directions for dance culture. By the end of the decade, northern bands were reshaping the national sound and setting the foundations for the Acid House and Madchester scenes of 1988–89 and the second Summer of Love. These movements changed nightlife and left a lasting mark on youth culture in Britain and beyond.

The People’s Archive presents photographs from across the decade, recording both the everyday and the emblematic — from protests to dance floors, from industrial heartlands to a country on the edge of the 1990s.