Formation Charter 88 was created by 348 mainly
Liberal and
Social Democratic British intellectuals and activists. They signed a letter to the
New Statesman magazine as "a general expression of dissent" following the
1987 General Election victory of the
Conservative Party, led by
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This was then followed by further advertisements in
The Guardian and
The Independent. Five thousand signatures were published in
The Observer newspaper in January 1989, followed by the establishment of an organisation. The organisation was offered space within the offices of the
New Statesman magazine, then based in
Shoreditch. For several years it was based in offices in Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell. It later moved to the Institute of Community Studies (now The
Young Foundation) in
Bethnal Green. Its initial activity resulted in the creation of a Charter which the public was invited to sign and to support with financial contributions.
Anthony Barnett was the first Director and Andrew Puddephatt, former General Secretary of
Liberty, became the director of Charter 88 in 1995.
Source of inspiration Charter 88 was the brainchild of
New Statesman editor Stuart Weir and came into existence as a direct response to Thatcherism in Britain in the 1980s. It closely followed the methodology that had been employed by
Charter 77 in
Czechoslovakia during 1977. Charter 77 originally appeared as a manifesto published in a
West German newspaper that was signed by Czechoslovak citizens representing various occupations, political viewpoints, and religions. The manifesto was reprinted and circulated as a document inviting other signatures and by the mid-1980s it had been signed by 1,200 people.
The Original Charter 88 The Original Charter of Charter 88 was explicitly concerned with institutional change:
Support Since 1988, approximately 85,000 people have signed the Charter, over which time the aim of the movement has changed considerably. Among its early supporters in the British entertainment industry was singer
Billy Bragg. He had earlier given his support to the
left-wing Red Wedge British youth political movement. Red Wedge closely allied itself with Labour Party leader
Neil Kinnock in his unsuccessful attempt to defeat the
Conservative Party. The writer
Harold Pinter, composer
Simon Rattle, actor
John Cleese and actress
Emma Thompson were also early supporters. Other signatories from the entertainment world included actor
Ray McAnally, who played the left-wing Prime Minister in the TV film
A Very British Coup, whilst other famous names included novelists
Salman Rushdie,
Ian McEwan,
Julian Barnes,
A.S. Byatt,
Margaret Drabble, and
Angela Carter. Other famous signatories included
Martin Amis,
Tim Clement-Jones,
Judi Dench,
Terry Eagleton,
Antonia Fraser,
Clement Freud,
Stuart Hall, Signatory
Lord Scarman chaired the launch in the House of Commons of Charter 88's strategy document 'We can Make it Happen in the Next Ten years', and remained a behind the scenes influence. The intellectual left provided notable signatories however in the form of
Ralph Miliband,
Robin Blackburn and feminist
Sheila Rowbotham. In 1988
Neil Kinnock is alleged to have described Charter 88 as a movement of "whiners, whingers and wankers", though he and his wife
Glenys Kinnock later signed the charter.
Tony Blair acknowledged his agreement with many of the aims and intentions of Charter 88.
People Council Chair •
Stuart Weir and
Richard Holme (jointly) 1988–1989 • Beverley Anderson 1989 – 1992 •
Helena Kennedy 1992 – 1997 • Paul Farthing 1998 – 2003 • Debbie Chay 2003 – 2005 • Vicky Seddon 2005 – 2007
Directors •
Anthony Barnett 1988 – 1995; • Andrew Puddephatt 1995 – 1998; • Pam Giddy 1998 – 2002; • Karen Bartlett 2002 – 2003; • Phil Starr 2003 – 2004; • Ron Bailey 2004 – 2006 (co-director); • Peter Facey 2004 – 2006 (co-director), 2006 – 2007
Later developments In June 2003, the chair of the Charter 88 executive and management committee and active contributor
Paul Hirst died suddenly. Along with this, the organisation's financial situation and a period of resignations and redundancies, created a crisis situation in late 2003. From 2004, Charter 88 developed partnerships with two organisations: • The
New Politics Network was created in 2000 following the winding up of
Democratic Left. •
Active Citizens Transform, founded in 2004 by
Charles Secrett, former executive director of the environmental organisation
Friends of the Earth and by Ron Bailey. On 8 February 2005, Charter 88 and the New Politics Network launched the
Elect the Lords Campaign, which began with an advert in
The Guardian newspaper. It worked to introduce the
Armed Forces (Parliamentary Approval for Participation in Armed Conflict) Bill in Parliament, in cooperation with
Clare Short. In 2006, Active Citizens Transform was wound up and subsumed within Charter 88.
Local Works, ACT's campaign for the
Sustainable Communities Bill continued successfully and the legislation received Royal Assent in October 2007. Members of Charter 88 and the New Politics Network were balloted in March 2007 on a proposed merger of the two organisations. The proposal was passed and the new organisation called
Unlock Democracy was established in November 2007. ==See also==