The Conservative Government from 1979 to 1997 started a revolution in the ‘town hall’ that continues under a Labour Government. Discuss.

When the Conservative Government came into power in 1979 under Margaret Thatcher no-one realised how much local government was about to change and by the time Labour took office in 1997 the structures for both financing and delivering local government services had changed beyond all recognition. New Labour too has started its own revolution of local government, but in the first instance I will look at the legislation as it was introduced and its effects on local government under the Conservatives.

The first major change to local government was the 1980 Planning and Land Act, which amongst other thing introduced the compulsory sale of council housing. This was a cornerstone of Thatcherite policy at the time and the…(short extract)