ABSTRACT
The Liberal/Social Democrat Alliance and, initially, the Conservative Party also made the 'loony left' a central theme of their by-election campaigns. When the Alliance candidate, Rosie Barnes, duly won the Greenwich by-election, not only the right-wing press but also most of the rest of the media hailed her victory as a public repudiation of the new urban left. In reality, Deirdre Wood's politics and union involvement made her more typical of the 'traditional' left than the new urban left. This chapter points to times when the media affected public attitudes. This, then, raises the question of why significant media influence was exerted on some occasions but not others. The chapter also provides evidence that the press had a significant impact on politicians. At first glance, the sequence of events suggests that the press was mainly responsible for the closure of the Greater London Council (GLC).
