ABSTRACT
James and Maureen Patterson, their twin sons Vernon and Martin and their teenage daughter Leisa are corralled and compositionally positioned in the centre of the image on the doorstep of their home. Margaret Hilda Thatcher to their left alongside Sir Horace Cutler who smiles jovially whilst a range of other Local dignitaries are arrayed to the right. Forming part of a long term policy agenda, the architecture and individual family referents in images became a staple of the political imagery used by the Conservative Party at this time to advocate for a policy they headlined in their manifesto and which many saw as a cause celebre during the General Election of 1979. Playing into the hands of Overload and Ungovernability critique in inflationary terms were the escalating wage demands of the Trade Unions, whilst their more headline grabbing industrial actions employed in struggles to obtain them fed the press need for sensationalism and sellable copy.
