The boomerang effect: the press and the battle for London 1981–6

A number of studies have shown how the press has mobilized public indignation against ‘outsider’ groups, such as teenage gangs, drug addicts, muggers and football hooligans, and built public support for tougher state action against them. ¹ This chapter seemingly fits this general pattern in that it shows how the press campaigned, initially with considerable success, against ‘Red Ken’ and the Greater London Council (GLC) and prepared the ground for the council's abolition.