Exhibitions

The Workers Burden, 1910

Two rival organisations issued these posters on in late 1909. A Liberal pressure group, the Budget League produced the first, while the Conservative supporting Budget Protest League was responsible for the other. The Times newspaper stated that The Worker’s Burden was a “reply” to the Poor Man’s Burden. Both posters use the same symbols, but the words change the meaning. In Edwardian Britain (1901-1910), posters were not static deliverers of information. They contested the politics of the street. Poster artists relied on the political education of the electorate to grasp these complex conversations.

Party: Budget League (supported the Liberals)

Election: January 1910 (Liberal Victory)

The Poor Man’s Burden

Party: Budget Protest League (supported the Conservatives)

Election: January 1910 (Liberal Victory)

The Only Hope is Tariff Reform

Tariff Reform refers to the taxing of imports into Britain. It was a major issue during the Edwardian period (1901-1910). The artist of this poster has used a number of symbols to emphasise the benefits of Tariff Reform. The tug of Tariff Reform is pulling the British Constitution off the rocks of socialism in the turbulent seas of Free Trade. The poster represents Britain twice. Its history as a sea fairing nation is evident in the ship. British industrial might is in the background as the sun rises over the smoking chimneys. As in many posters of the period the meaning was created through the combination of slogan and labelled image.

Party: Conservative

Election: 1906? (Liberal Victory)

Don't Try the Impossible

In this poster the artist John Hassall suggests that the electors should not support the Liberals who were crippled by trying to accommodate the wishes of their rich capitalist members and the Labour party. The Liberal Prime Minister H.H. Asquith is in the middle, confused by the two competing sides. The Conservatives would have approved design from a sketch, probably the one on the right. Hassall would then have produced the finished poster, which he then sent to the printers. He completed this example on the 8th October and charged £25.00 for the design.

Party: Conservative

Election: December 1910 (Liberal victory)

The Glutton

In 1910 Liberal and their allied Budget League posters attacked members of the House of Lords. As British Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George made regular reference in his speeches to the idle Lords. Posters regularly showed the Lords to be lazy unwilling to remove their hands from their pockets to help. It was the vice of greed, however, upon which opposition billboards focussed their most virulent attacks. Here the expertly drawn piggy eyes and red face of the milk stealer conveys the image of a figure that was full but still demanded more.

Election: January and December 1910 (Liberal victory)

Our Old Nobility, 1910

This poster leans into a familiar visual language of the time. A wealthy aristocrat, hands in pockets, is shown cutting a worker’s wages—using body language to suggest detachment and privilege. The contrast is clear and deliberate, framing the worker as being penalised rather than supported.

At the centre of the message is the Liberal pension reform. The image presents it not as a benefit, but as justification for reducing wages—turning a social policy into something that could be used against working people.

It also connects to a wider political moment. The Budget League, a pressure group formed after the House of Lords blocked David Lloyd George’s “People’s Budget,” used imagery like this to challenge opposition and shape public perception.

Like many posters of the period, it keeps the message direct. A single scene, clearly staged, doing the work of a much longer argument.

Party: Budget League (Liberal pressure group)

January election, 1910 (Liberal victory)

Baiting the ‘Dear Food’ Hook

The figure in this poster is Joseph Chamberlain. Francis Carruthers Gould, the artist made sure that viewers understood this by depicting him with his distinctive monocle. Chamberlain was in favour of Tariff Reform, and believed that if imports were taxed there would be more employment and higher wages. Carruthers Gould argues, that is merely to attract you, the viewer, and the real outcome is higher prices. The fishing apparatus, the creel and the bait can, are labelled with his true motifs, protection and bait. Fishing was a popular metaphor in posters. The idea that parties were tricking voters into acting a certain way, was highly relevant during election periods.

Party: Liberal

Election: 1906 (Liberal victory)

Digital Catalogue Link

Mothers Vote Labour

Women could first vote in parliamentary elections 1918. This poster, designed by Gerald Spencer Pryse, is Labour’s first attempt to attract these new voters. During the period, Labour Party support came primarily from industrial areas, emphasised by the factory in the background. The basis of the poster’s appeal is that women should vote Labour on behalf of their children. Labour reissued this poster several times throughout the inter-war period, including in 1929, the first election men and women voted on equal terms.

Party: Labour

Election: First used 1918 (Coalition government led by David Lloyd George)

Labour Stands For All Who Work

During the 1920s and the 1930s Labour expanded their appeal from their core urban, working class, trade union support and began seeking the votes of the middle class. The party used posters to when attempting this. The people in this poster are dressed in the clothes of managerial or secretarial rather than industrial workers. Drawn by Gerald Spencer Pryse, this poster like the one on the right, is one of the few examples that acknowledges many women were in paid employment.

Party: Labour

Election: Perhaps 1931 (National Government victory)

Men and Women Workers, Your Chance at Last

This poster is rare in that it recognised that women might choose to vote as something other than mothers or consumers. The women in the centre stares at the viewer in a direct personal appeal. As Men and women stream out of the closed works towards the polling booth. There the poster urges, they should vote for Labour.

Men and Women Workers, Your Chance at Last

Party: Labour

Election: 1929 (Labour victory)

THE NEW VOTER

This Labour poster from 1929 shows Liberal leader David Lloyd George and Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin as old- fashioned. Their top hats and morning coats contrast sharply with Ramsay MacDonald’s, lounge suit and homburg, very much the modern man. Lloyd George’s macabre wink hinted at his reputation as a serial philanderer.

It was a poster demonstrating the fluidity of visual symbols. In Conservative posters Baldwin’s pipe was a reassuring sign of geniality; here, it represented an out of touch old man.

Party: Labour

Election: 1929 (Labour victory)

Digital Catalogue Link

Fair Play For Women

Originally submitted to a poster competition organised by the Liberal Party, “Fair Play for Women” quickly stood out for its bold visual messaging. While The Manchester Guardian described the figure as standing before a row of “dainty” suburban houses, the artwork actually places her towering above a vibrant stretch of colourful shopfronts.

The composition presents a woman dressed in contemporary fashion, her modern silhouette dominating the urban backdrop. Rather than domestic suburbia, the surrounding retail parade suggests prosperity and commercial life. Together, the figure’s confident stance and the lively storefronts communicate a clear sense of affluence and modernity.

Party: Liberal

Election: 1929 (Labour victory)

Safety First

The idea of trust is central to this poster. Clearly it says so at the bottom, but even if it did not the image of Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin is full of trustworthy symbols. Upright, solid, formal it is every inch the image of inter-war leadership. The most important signal of the Baldwin’s trust, however, is his gaze. Plato suggested “the eyes are the windows to the soul”. Baldwin’s unwavering stare signifies that he is not unnerved by the task of leadership. This poster ultimately suggests that Baldwin has nothing to hide.

Party: Conservative

Election: 1929 (Labour victory)

Because Britain Deserves Better

This hardly looked like a traditional political poster, and that was part of its appeal. Tony Blair appeared youthful and approachable, especially contrasted to the greyer, more conventional image of the Conservative leader and Prime Minister John Major. Blair seemed to represent something newer and more modern.

Blair's relaxed appearance also challenged older ideas of politics being dominated by stiff, formal men in suits. In some campaign images he even appeared without a tie, reinforcing the sense that this was not Blair the international statesman, but Blair as a modern British leader. The rolled-up sleeves suggested a willingness to work hard and “get his hands dirty,” while the loosened tie gave him the appearance of someone ordinary and relatable, almost like a father arriving home after a long day at work.

The overall effect was carefully styled but subtle: politics presented with a more contemporary and human image.

Party: Labour

Election: 1997 (Labour victory)

We'll Cut The Deficit Not The NHS

In January, 2010 the Conservatives dropped a billboard campaign built around an oversized portrait of David Cameron and the line: “We can’t go on like this. I’ll cut the deficit, not the NHS.” The image appeared across 759 billboards nationwide.

But instead of looking authentic, the poster landed somewhere between politics and premium skincare. Cameron’s heavily retouched face became the story, with critics immediately mocking the airbrushed aesthetic. The internet turned it into meme material, while posters in the street were frequently vandalised and rewritten.

Party: Conservative

Election: 2010 (Conservative victory, in coalition with Liberal Democrats)

General Manager Wanted

In this poster the Labour leader James Ramsay MacDonald applies to John Bull for the job of Prime Minister. Bull has already rejected the application of the Conservative and Liberal leaders Stanley Baldwin and David Lloyd George. Instead, he decides on Ramsay MacDonald after reading the Labour manifesto ‘Labour and the Nation’. Here John Bull represents the ability of the British to make the correct rational decision. John Bull featured infrequently in Labour posters. More usually he appeared in Conservative posters and commercial advertising as a symbol for British made goods.

This stateman like image makes an interesting comparison with depictions of Lloyd George during the same election as he appealed to new voters.

Party: Labour

Election: 1929 (Labour victory)

“Sun-Ray” treatment, 1929

Borrowing the visual language of medical advertising, this poster reworks the idea of “Sun-Ray” treatment, a popular therapy for tuberculosis. Conservative policy is presented as the cure capable of restoring the nation itself.

The unknown designer leans heavily into the symbolism. Rays stream outward across the composition, suggesting energy, recovery and national renewal. At the same time, the poster carefully stages an image of Britain as socially unified. Men and women of different classes appear together all gathered beneath the same political sunlight.

At a moment when many Conservatives feared growing class division and the threat of social conflict, the poster sells cohesion as much as policy. Its message is less about individual voters than about the idea of a single national community, healed and held together through Conservative government.

Party: Conservative

Election: 1929 (Labour victory)

They Brought Use From Slums to Sunshine

This barely reads like a political poster at all. The sharp angles, staged poses, and graphic brickwork feel closer to a high-end fashion photography than election propaganda. It’s less Westminster, more avant-garde magazine cover.

The image was produced by Studio Sun, a photographic studio better known for fashion imagery than political campaigning. The composition is hyper-styled: monochrome figures cut hard against an almost radioactive yellow backdrop, turning the contrast between urban deprivation and “sunshine” politics into something cinematic.

The whole thing feels aggressively modern for its time. Slick. Designed. Aspirational.

The National Government wasn’t just selling policy it was selling a mood, a future, a lifestyle upgrade. Using cutting-edge photographic techniques signalled modernity as much as the message itself.

Party: National Government

Election: 1935 (National Governement - led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin)

Five Years to Finish the Job

Such was Labour Prime Minister’s fame as a pipe smoker, people would know that the pipe in this poster was him. The represented solidity, reliability and purpose. Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, Wilson was working class. The pipe speaks to those roots. However, the Oxford scholar and academic preferred cigars when not in front of the camera.

It's time for Labour

This poster taps into two of the most powerful visuals in the language of optimism: children and the break of day. It’s a clean, cinematic pairing of youth meeting sunrise signals hope, but also hints at something deeper: discovery and new beginnings.

There’s heritage baked into this line too. Neil Kinnock famously closed his foreword to Labour’s 1992 manifesto with it, and doubled down by making it the final note in every campaign speech. Here, that same sentiment gets recontextualised through imagery that feels both timeless and forward-facing, elevating a political message into something almost universal.

Party: Labour

Election: 1992 (Conservative victory)

Life’s Better With The Conservatives

This poster quickly becoming one of the most recognisable pieces of political advertising. Developed by Colman, Prentis & Varley for the Conservatives, with the slogan crafted by Geoffrey Tucker and Ronald Simms, it shows how campaign messaging was becoming more structured and deliberately styled.

At its core, the poster balances two ideas. On the surface, there’s a clear sense of optimism, a prosperous, contented family used to project stability and everyday success.

The pairing of slogan and imagery keeps things direct. It suggests that modern, aspirational items, like televisions, could become part of ordinary life. It's not about detailed policy but a broader vision of progress and comfort.

The impact was immediate enough to draw criticism at the time. One Labour MP famously remarked that the Conservatives were “selling politics like soap powder,” a line that captured how closely political communication was beginning to mirror commercial advertising.

Poster: Conservative

Election: 1959 (Conservative victory)

It’s Time For a Change

As the twentieth century moved on, poster design started to strip things back—and by the 1950s, that shift picked up pace. What you see here fits squarely into that transition: a cleaner, more focused approach that leaves little room for distraction.

From around 1945, a new formula began to take hold. One strong central image, paired with a short, direct slogan. It was a move towards clarity—making sure the message landed quickly and stayed with the viewer.

The change wasn’t total. More detailed, complex designs still appeared from time to time. But increasingly, they felt out of step with the direction campaigns were heading. Simplicity was becoming the standard, not the exception.

Party: Conservative

Election: 1951 (Conservative victory)

See Labour on TV

Television reshaped how election campaigns were fought. Building on what radio had already started, it shifted politics out of public spaces and into the home; something watched, rather than attended.

That change could have made posters feel redundant. But instead of disappearing, they adapted. Just as earlier posters had been used to promote public meetings, campaigns in the 1950s began using them to point audiences toward party election broadcasts.

This poster highlights the time and date of Labour’s 1955 Party Election Broadcasts, guiding viewers on when to tune in. The first party election broadcast had only been introduced a few years earlier, in 1951. By 1955, it was clear that campaigns weren’t just about being seen in public any more, they were about being watched at home.

You can see the 20th May Election Broadcast in the clip

Party: Labour

Election: 1955 (Conservative victory)

Labour Isn't Working

Often described as the most famous British political poster, this design set a benchmark for what campaign messaging could achieve. It brings together image and slogan in a way that creates two clear, overlapping meanings.

On one level, it points to the challenges facing Jim Callaghan’s Labour government; rising inflation, ongoing strikes, and a sense of instability. On another, it taps into a more immediate concern: the fear of unemployment. A personal message that goes beyond headline issues.

Some have argued that the poster itself secured the Conservative victory in 1979. That claim is debated, with events such as the Winter of Discontent playing a major role in shaping public opinion.

What is harder to dispute is how effectively it captured the mood of the time. By combining a simple visual with a direct line, it reflects a moment when public concern, political messaging, and design all aligned. From this moment all political posters would be judged against this one.

There is only one loony left

Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, and Sade were some of the musicians that formed Red Wedge in November 1985. The organisations aim was to unite anti-Conservative youths. The poster’s slogan is a reference to the phrase that the press used to criticise the policies of Labour controlled councils, most notably Liverpool and Lambeth. This poster twists the phrase. Margaret Thatcher’s squint, her unearthly glow and the vintage television echo a 1950s sci-fi movie and suggest that she was not of this world.

Party: Red Wedge (Organisation of musicians affiliated to Labour)

Election: 1987 (Conservative victory)

Labour’s Tax Bombshell

This poster was all about impact. A single idea, pushed hard: Labour’s policies come at a cost. The “bombshell” framing turns that message into something urgent and attention-grabbing, reinforced across both posters and broadcast.

The numbers do the work, £38 billion, £1250 per person, kept simple and repeated enough to stick. It’s less about detail and more about scale, giving voters a figure they can picture and react to quickly.

Visually and conceptually, it’s built to land fast. No clutter, no over-explanation, just a clear warning, delivered in a way that’s hard to ignore.

Party: Conservative

Election 1992 (Conservative Victory)

Labour’s Double Whammy

If Tax Bombshell from 1992 set up the argument, Double Whammy hits it again. The language leans into impact, borrowing the punchy Americanism “whammy” to make the message feel immediate and forceful.

The idea is straightforward: voters aren’t just facing one hit, but two. It’s a compressed way of framing Labour’s plans as a double burden, turning a complex policy debate into something simple and memorable.

Together, the posters show how the campaign approached its messaging; strip it back, repeat the core idea, and make sure it lands in seconds. Whether or not they decided the election outcome on their own - with a surprise Conservation victory - they reflect a campaign that understood how to keep a message clear, consistent, and difficult to miss.

Party: Conservative

Election: 1992 (Conservative Victory)

Tory Defence Policy

This poster takes a more direct, critical angle, pushing against the idea that Labour’s 1992 campaign avoided confrontation. It places two senior Conservative figures (Prime Minister John Major and Chancellor Norman Lamont) behind a sofa, a simple visual that suggests avoidance and a lack of accountability.

The message is clear without overcomplication. Rather than focusing on detailed policy critique, it uses a familiar domestic setting to frame a political point: key decisions on defence are being dodged. It’s a concise visual metaphor, designed to land quickly and stick.

Party: Labour

Election: 1992 (Conservative Victory)

Tory Education Policy

Also from 1992 this poster shifts focus to education, using a single, striking image to communicate its message. A child is shown handing over money, with the presence of a pinstripe suit acting as a symbol of wealth and financial power.

The idea is straightforward: education is being framed as something that comes at a cost, rather than a public good. Like many posters of the period, it avoids complex explanation and instead presents a clear, immediate contrast linking Conservative policy with expense and inequality.

Together, these posters show that while Labour was criticised for not being aggressive enough in 1992, it still used sharp, visual messaging to challenge key areas of Conservative policy.

Party: Labour

Election: 1992 (Conservative victory)

Labour Party Election Broadcast, 1997

In this Party Election Broadcast from 1997 the message, the method of delivery, and the method of construction all melded into one. The broadcast became known as the Tony Blair biopic. In it he signed a poster that featured his own face, and complained that was what politics was like now. It was clear that the posters role in election had become much more than simply communicating to people in the street.

Picturing Politics - The British Political Poster

Snicket

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The Workers Burden, 1910

The Only Hope is Tariff Reform

Don't Try the Impossible

The Glutton

Our Old Nobility, 1910

Baiting the ‘Dear Food’ Hook

Mothers Vote Labour

Labour Stands For All Who Work

Men and Women Workers, Your Chance at Last

THE NEW VOTER

Related Items

Fair Play For Women

Safety First

Because Britain Deserves Better

We'll Cut The Deficit Not The NHS

General Manager Wanted

Related Items

“Sun-Ray” treatment, 1929

They Brought Use From Slums to Sunshine

Five Years to Finish the Job

It's time for Labour

Life’s Better With The Conservatives

It’s Time For a Change

See Labour on TV

Labour Isn't Working

There is only one loony left

Labour’s Tax Bombshell

Labour’s Double Whammy

Tory Defence Policy

Tory Education Policy

Labour Party Election Broadcast, 1997

Picturing Politics - The British Political Poster

Snicket