List of Illustrations

1. The Conservative Party celebrates social mobility on a 1992 poster. Getty Images

2. John Major visits British troops in the Gulf after the Kuwaiti War, 1991. A year later, his Labour rival, Neil Kinnock, addresses the pre-election Sheffield Rally. Mirrorpix

3. The advent of the new lad is proclaimed in Loaded magazine and the sitcom Men Behaving Badly. Amongst the heroes of the movement is Eric Cantona, particularly after he deals forcefully with an abusive fan. Rex Features; Brendan O’Sullivan/Rex Features

4. The political dimension of 1990s comedy is evident in Harry Enfield’s incarnation as Tory Boy and Chris Morris’s parody of the news media in The Day Today, as well as in the support actor Richard Wilson (of One Foot in the Grave) gives to the Labour Party. BBC Photo Library; © Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy

5. The future belongs, however, to the non-political comedians epitomised by Jack Dee. BBC Photo Library; Rex Features

6. Following their victory in the 1992 election, the Tories implode: Norman Lamont announces Britain’s withdrawal from the ERM, and David Mellor and his family present a united front in the wake of stories about his personal life. Both men were out of office by 1993. Mirrorpix; Murray Sanders/Daily Mail/Rex Features

7. At the height of Britpop Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls and Noel Gallagher of Oasis are amongst those reclaiming the imagery of the Union flag. In 1992 Morrissey had attracted controversy by dancing with it at a concert. Redferns/Getty Images; Getty Images

8. The bucolic nostalgia of the hugely popular TV series The Darling Buds of May finds an equally warm counterpart in a new wave of cinema that celebrates community in modern Britain, including Bhaji on the Beach, The Full Monty and Brassed Off. Top: ITV/Rex Features; below: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features

9. The outcome of the 1997 election is a foregone conclusion, as recognised by the Sun’s endorsement of Tony Blair, allowing Alastair Campbell to coordinate a campaign chiefly notable for its dullness. Getty Images; © Homer Sykes Archive/Alamy

10. The new government is dominated by the rivalry between the self-conscious modernity of Tony Blair and the self-proclaimed prudence of Gordon Brown. Andrew Dunsmore/Rex Features; AFP/Getty Images

11. As the alternative culture of the 1980s moves into the mainstream, it makes household names of indie rock star Jarvis Cocker, Paul O’Grady’s drag queen Lily Savage (presenter of BBC One’s Blankety Blank) and the computer game character Lara Croft. Meanwhile the rise of the docusoap turns ordinary people into minor celebrities, including Maureen Rees from the series Driving School. Redferns/Getty Images; FremantleMedia Ltd/Rex Features; © Joe Bird/Alamy; Mike Forster/Daily Mail/Rex Features

12. John Redwood’s challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995 proves unsuccessful but damaging to the party. Times Newspapers/Rex Features

13. William Hague becomes leader in 1997 but fails to convince the country, even with the support of Margaret Thatcher and Ann Widdecombe. Stefan Rousseau/Press Association Images; AFP/Getty Images

14. The nation’s response to a fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 concludes the monarchy’s annus horribilis, though popular support returns for the anniversary of VE Day in 1995: the Queen, Queen Mother and Princess Margaret had appeared on the same balcony fifty years earlier. Tim Graham/Getty Images

15. A turbulent decade for the royal family is dominated by the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and the wave of public grief leading up to her funeral. AFP/Getty Images

16. A Sinn Fein delegation, led by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, in Downing Street for talks during the Northern Ireland peace process. Mirrorpix

17. The Labour candidate, Frank Dobson, concedes defeat to the independent Ken Livingstone in the first mayoral election for London in 2000. In 2001 Peter Mandelson resigns from the cabinet for the second time in a single parliament, and the foot-and-mouth epidemic revives the imagery of the BSE crisis of John Major’s premiership. AFP/Getty Images; Getty Images

18. The start of the new millennium is greeted by protests over fuel tax and the adornment of Winston Churchill’s statue with a grass Mohican. AFP/Getty Images; Adam Butler/Press Association Images