May 1
Tony Blair's Labour Landslide
New Labour won 418 seats — the biggest majority since 1935. Blair walked into Downing Street to cheering crowds and D:Ream's 'Things Can Only Get Better.' Portillo lost his seat. The Tories were destroyed.
🇬🇧United Kingdom · 90s
New Labour, New Dawn
Blair won a landslide, Diana died in Paris, and Dolly the Sheep rewrote biology.
What happened
5 milestones of 1997
Aug 31
Death of Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash in Paris. She was 36. Britain experienced an unprecedented outpouring of public grief. A million people lined the funeral route. The Royal Family's response was criticised.
Mass bereavement — respectful, acknowledge genuine grief and its complexities
Jul 1
Hong Kong Handover
Britain handed Hong Kong back to China after 156 years. Prince Charles and Chris Patten sailed away on the Royal Yacht Britannia. The last significant piece of Empire was gone.
End of Empire — acknowledge colonial complexities and Hong Kong residents' anxieties
Feb 22
Dolly the Sheep Announced
Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh announced they had cloned a sheep named Dolly — the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. The ethical and scientific implications were enormous.
May 6
Bank of England Independence
Gordon Brown's first act as Chancellor was to make the Bank of England independent in setting interest rates. Politicians would no longer control monetary policy. It was the most significant economic reform in decades.
What was playing
70% local · 30% international
What was in cinemas
The Full Monty
Peter Cattaneo — Unemployed Sheffield steelworkers become strippers. Tom Wilkinson. Genius.
Titanic
James Cameron — Leonardo and Kate. 'I'm the king of the world!' Dominated for months.
Bean
Mel Smith — Rowan Atkinson in America. Crude but massive box office.
Tomorrow Never Dies
Roger Spottiswoode — Pierce Brosnan's second Bond. Media mogul villain.
Good Will Hunting
Gus Van Sant — Matt Damon and Robin Williams. 'How do you like them apples?'
What was on TV
Diana's Funeral
Sep 1997 — 31 million UK viewers. Elton John sang. The nation wept.
Election Night 1997
May 1997 — Peter Snow's swingometer went wild. Portillo's face. 'A new dawn has broken.'
Jonathan Creek
1997-2014 — Alan Davies solves impossible crimes in a windmill.
Teletubbies
1997-2001 — Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po. Toddler TV sensation.
I'm Alan Partridge
1997-2002 — Steve Coogan as Norfolk's finest. 'Ah-ha!' Travel Tavern.
How much things cost
Currency: GBP
Pint of milk36p
Loaf of bread56p
Pint of bitter£1.70
Average house£60,359
Gallon of petrol£2.70
Cinema ticket£4.20
Inflation: 3.1%
Economic optimism. Low inflation. Employment rising. 'Cool Britannia' was real — briefly.
Then vs. Now
Inflation-adjusted values
Pint of milkONS
1997 (GBP)
36p
→
Today's value (£)
--
Loaf of breadONS
1997 (GBP)
56p
→
Today's value (£)
--
Pint of bitterBBPA
1997 (GBP)
£1.70
→
Today's value (£)
--
Average houseONS
1997 (GBP)
£60,359
→
Today's value (£)
--
Gallon of petrolAA
1997 (GBP)
£2.70
→
Today's value (£)
--
Cinema ticketBFI
1997 (GBP)
£4.20
→
Today's value (£)
--
Technology
Dolly the Sheep
First cloned mammal — Scottish science changed biology.
Internet expansion
Web use growing rapidly — Google would launch the next year.
Nokia 6110
The definitive mobile phone. Snake. Everyone had one.
DVDs
DVD players arriving in UK — VHS beginning its decline.
Tamagotchi
Virtual pet craze from Japan. Fed a keychain. 'It's dead!'
Pop Culture
Fashion
Cool Britannia — Union Jack everything, Geri's dressBritpop fading into electronic/big beatMinimalist fashion — Calvin Klein, simple clean lines
Slang
Cool Britannia— New national confidence in culture
Lush— Attractive, lovely
Minted— Wealthy
Behavior
- Diana's death created the most extraordinary public grief in modern British history
- Blair's election felt like a generational shift — out with the old, in with the new
- Cool Britannia merged politics and culture — Oasis at Downing Street
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