ABSTRACT
In recent times, social commentators have suggested there has been a ‘decline of class’ in British society. Tony Blair, prime minister between 1997 and 2005, famously declared: ‘The class war is over’. The term ‘classless society’ is now used extensively to describe modern Britain. The decline of the old rigid class system is attributed to the period when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, between 1979 and 1990. Her ‘revolution’ weakened the influence of key institutions of the upper class – the BBC, the Church of England, the old universities and the monarchy. Her attack on the power of the trade unions and local councils weakened two key sources of working-class power. The group Mrs Thatcher’s policies championed was the middle classes, especially those of its members employed in business, banking and the service industries. Under subsequent governments of both parties, John Major (Conservative, 1990-97), Blair (Labour, 1997-2007), Gordon Brown (Labour, 2007-10) and the current David Cameron-led Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, the expansion of the values of the middle class has continued.
