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Labour History Archive & Study Centre

With our expert Archive Team on hand, discover PHM's incredible collection of political archive material.

Image of Labour History Archive & Study Centre @ People's History Museum

Labour History Archive & Study Centre

With our expert Archive Team on hand, discover PHM's incredible collection of political archive material.

Delve into this internationally significant collection, which includes items of national importance from the last 250 years of British social and political history.  The archive is home to the complete holdings of the national Labour Party and Communist Party of Great Britain, archives of working class organisations, personal papers of radical politicians, writers and activists, and over 95,000 photographs relating to the growth of democracy in Britain.  Archive material covers not only parliamentary reform, extension of the vote and general elections, but grassroots organisations and campaigns also.

Learn how the collection continues to grow today, and how it is used by communities, researchers and individuals to explore the social and political stories of the past, present, and for the future.

You can search the archive’s catalogues, including the Labour Party archive and the Communist Party of Great Britain archive via The National Archives:

Search PHM’s archive catalogues

The archive collections complement archive material, objects, photographs and banners on display in the museum’s galleries, which are also explored through PHM’s public programme of events and exhibitions.

Image of PHM Conservator Kloe Rumsey with Spitting Image puppet of John Prescott, from around 1992. Image courtesy of People's History Museum.

100 years since the first Labour government

22 January 2024 is the 100th anniversary of the first ever Labour government taking office.  To mark this historic moment, the museum team have selected a number of objects reflecting the stories and milestones of the last century.

Explore
Image of visitors exploring material in the Labour History Archive & Study Centre at People's History Museum.

Planning a visit

  • Opening times: Wed to Fri, 10.00am to 4.00pm (lunchtime closure 12.30pm to 1.30pm)
  • The archive is closed: Mon, Tues, weekends and bank holidays
  • Booking essential by emailing archive@phm.org.uk, with a minimum of seven working days’ notice required
  • No access without appointment
  • We ask that when you arrive you place all bags, coats, food and drink in the lockers provided outside the reading room using a returnable £1 coin
  • Laptops and pencils can be used in the reading room

How to get here
Image of collections in the Labour History Archive & Study Centre at People's History Museum.

Explore the archive

Including pamphlets, newspapers and photographs, as well as the archives of political parties and leftwing pressure groups, the archive collects the personal papers of radical politicians, writers and activists.

Archive research guides
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