ABSTRACT
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak of the ‘decline of class’ in British society. The term ‘classless society’ has become commonplace. The rise of Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of a Grantham shopkeeper, and John Major, the son of a garden-gnome salesman, to the post of Prime Minister has been seen as evidence that anyone can rise to the top in British society, whatever their social origins.
