As we gear up for a general election at the end of the year, and prepare to be inundated with more political slogans, here’s some nostalgic images of the Labour Women’s Conference when it was held in Southend.
The event was held in May of 1967 at the Cliffs Pavilion and as you can see from the images, the slogan of the time was ‘win through with Labour’.
The conference saw female delegates discussing issues such as heath, education, law and reform as well as the price of food and shopping.
Among the notable attendees were Labour statesman Harold Wilson, then the Prime Minister of Great Britain, who arrived in the town by railway and Barbara Castle, then the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Employment.
Jim Callaghan, then the Chancellor of the Exchequer was also a VIP guest.
At times the conference got a bit heated, especially when many delegates disagreed with the official party line that prices hadn’t gone up.
One of the several resolutions passed at the conference was that women should have better access to contraception and cervical cancer screening.
These were tough economic times. Just six months after these photos were taken, the Government devalued the pound.
In the wake of the decision, Wilson moved Callaghan to the role of Home Secretary.
Scroll down to see more photos from our archive
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