Miners' strike Forty years on, unions regain the upper hand

Forty years ago, Britain was hurtling towards the pivotal industrial struggle of the postwar era.

- Larry Elliott

The National Coal Board, backed by Margaret Thatcher's government, wanted to close pits deemed to be uneconomic. The leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers opposed the plan.

The scene was set for a year-long strike that ended in defeat not just for the miners but for the trade union movement as a whole. The NUM had a formidable record of winning its battles and in the early 1970s had twice inflicted defeats on Ted Heath's government.

Losing to Heath's successor as Tory leader showed how times had changed. Unions were already restricted in what they could do by-laws passed by the Thatcher government, but nonetheless, it was a truly symbolic moment when the NUM reluctantly gave up the fight. It marked the transition from a manufacturing economy to one dominated by services, and financial services in particular. The balance of power shifted in favour of capital over labour.

Thirty years after the end of the strike there was not a single deep coalmine remaining in the UK. In 2019, many of the constituencies that were once dominated by communities centred on their pits voted for Tory MPs.