The first march started in Huddersfield and joined up with a contingent from
Liverpool at the Pier Head when 500 unemployed people marched 280 miles to London. This was preceded by an ecumenical service in Liverpool's parish church. A joint statement in support of the march was issued by the Anglican
Bishop of Liverpool,
David Sheppard, the Catholic
Archbishop of Liverpool,
Derek Worlock, and leading members of the Methodists, the United Reformed Church, the Baptist Union and the Salvation Army. The march, which drew comparisons with the
Jarrow March of 1936, cost £70,000, with 500 marchers being estimated as the most that the organisers could afford to adequately clothe and feed. The march ended on 1 June with a rally outside the
Greater London Council, a lobby to
Parliament and a party in the evening, before the 500 unemployed dispersed. The marchers handed the government a petition with 250,000 signatures calling on the government to change its policies to ensure full employment.
Paul Routledge,
Christopher Warman and
Richard Evans in
The Times claimed that the labour movement regarded the march as its biggest propaganda success since
Margaret Thatcher had become prime minister. The 1981 March forms the backdrop and inspiration for All Together Now, a tribute by Pete Carter's son, Mike, to his father and the March. ==1983==