ABSTRACT
July 1997, newly elected Prime Minster of the UK Labour Party Tony Blair threw a party, not a party of politi cians but one of celebrit ies; of the super stars of Britpop – Blur and Oasis – the darlings of the Young British Art World, and a who’s who of Britain’s liter ary and movie cultures. The accompanying soundtrack D: REAM’s ‘Things can only get better’ symbolised not only the hopes of a nation, but also of a creat ive sector that had been enrolled as part of the new young govern ment’s market ing ploy. Not since the 1960s had Britain felt so cool, on the back of the rise of its music, liter at ure and art around the world and the growing strength of its creat ive economy more gener ally, the govern ment firmly employed creativ ity as part of its national economic policy, as well as within a global rebrand ing exer cise this was the era of ‘Cool Britannia’.
