Whatever you think about Margaret Thatcher and her legacy, one of the most memorable aspects of her political career was the incredible 1979 election poster for the Conservative party. Instantly recognisable, the “Labour isn’t working” poster and print campaign is credited by some as leading to James Callaghan’s thrashing at the polls that year.
Hats off to Andrew Rutherford for this incredible example of top-class copywriting
As well as a powerful visual, the simple three word slogan is pure copywriting genius. Andrew Rutherford pulls off a masterstroke by addressing the high unemployment of 1979, the perceived failures of the incumbent administration and suggests that nothing will change for the foreseeable future under a Labour government. All in just three words.
The “Labour isn’t working” poster is one of only two political campaigns to make it into Campaign Magazine’s Outdoor Hall of Fame, and it is easy to see why. Even now with the current coalition government’s programme of “welfare rebalancing”, much of the rhetoric coming out of Whitehall still seems to echo to the same slogan!
Labour’s “tribute” to Thatcher’s original – sweet but unimaginative.
Obviously Mrs Thatcher had little, if anything to do with the design of her campaign posters, but she certainly owes at least some of her three-term success to an example of outstanding copywriting.
And as testament to the lasting power of the original Saatchi & Saatchi election poster, the Labour Party has even used it as the basis for their own “The doctor can’t see you now” 2015 General Election poster.
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