Catalogue Number
NMLH.1992.125.7
Object Name
badge
Title
'Axe Poll Tax'
People
Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Party
Events
Poll Tax protests
Description
A white badge, "Axe Poll Tax". The word axe is in red, the rest in black. The word poll has been cut in two horizontally.
In 1989-1990, the Conservatives introduced the Community Charge, taxes to fund local government. It replaced the Rates system that valued taxes based on estimated property values, and instead charged individuals a flat-rate. This disproportinately impacted lower income families living in one household as their payments increased significantly. The tax was hugely unpopular and Anti-Poll Tax Unions (APTUs) sprung up around the country. There were frequent local protests culminating in a police riot in Trafalgar Square, London when approximately 200,000 people demonstrated on 31 March 1990, shortly before the tax would come into force in England and Wales. Ultimately the Poll Tax failed as the majority of people could not and would not pay. It was replaced with the Council Tax in 1991.
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