Colchester's Poll Tax riots remembered, three decades on

For 11 years, the former Prime Minister had pushed through countless policies, both popular and unpopular, and was unfazed by the public’s reception of her ideologies.

Together – two mums make their position clear on the poll tax (Image: Nigel Brown, Newsquest)

But the poll tax represented something different – something that, for thousands of voters, came to epitomise everything that they did not like about Thatcherism.

That is not to say Thatcher’s transformation of the country had been unpopular – she won three elections in a row, taking nearly 150 more seats than Neil Kinnock’s Labour party in the 1987 General Election.

Scuffle – a protestor is tackled to the ground during the protest (Image: Nigel Brown, Newsquest)

Such was the strength of opposition to the poll tax, however, the policy effectively put paid to Thatcher’s reign.

The wheels were set in motion in 1989 when the policy was introduced disastrously in Scotland.

Loud – two protestors join in a chant against the community charge (Image: Nigel Brown, Newsquest)

In England a year later, the chaos was just as bad, and voters took to the streets in their thousands across towns and cities all around Britain in March 1990.

Determined – though Colchester had been a Conservative seat for decades, opposition to the poll tax was strong (Image: Nigel Brown, Newsquest)

Essex was no different, and these pictures show how Colchester, despite having voted Conservative at every election since 1950, was as opposed to the poll tax as voters were in constituencies across the country.

Demonstration – a protestor climbs on top of the war memorial during the protest (Image: Nigel Brown, Newsquest)

The pictures show demonstrators marching in Head Street and the High Street, and although the there were some scuffles, the protest was mainly peaceful – unlike the violence seen in London.

Crowd – hundreds of people take to the streets of Colchester in opposition to the new tax (Image: Nigel Brown, Newsquest)

At the time, Colchester MP Anthony Buck had represented the constituency for nearly 30 years, and his successor, Sir Bernard Jenkin, still managed to increase the seat's Tory majority in 1992.

Angry – people protested all over Britain, such was their angry reaction to the policy (Image: Nigel Brown, Newsquest)

By then, however, Thatcher had long been out of office, having resigned in November 1990 only six months after the poll tax riots.