Election Ephemera

Since 1945, the Library has been collecting publicity material produced by candidates in general elections. The result is an exceptional resource that provides a fascinating insight into the development of election campaigning in post-war Britain and can also be used to trace the rise and fall of political parties, policies and careers.

LSE Archives now holds over 14,000 items of election ephemera. Most of the collections consist of election addresses and other campaign material produced by candidates for general elections from 1945 onwards. Coverage is not fully comprehensive, but it is broadly representative, covering the whole of the UK and including material from minority parties and independent candidates as well as the three main parties. The collection also includes a limited amount of election ephemera from the 1800s-1930s and some material relating to local and by-elections. We also have a few collections of ephemera relating to overseas elections.

Online catalogue

• The following are the main election ephemera collections (click on the links to browse the catalogue):
• • General Election 1945 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0723).
  • General Election 1955 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0321).
  • General Election 1959 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0370).
  • General Election 1964 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0401).
  • General Election 1966 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0405).
  • General Election 1970 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0711).
  • General Election 1974 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0672).
  • General Election 1979 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0712).
  • General Election 1983 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0692).
  • General Election 1987 Ephemera (COLL MISC 0738).
  • General Election 1992 Ephemera (GENERAL ELECTION 1992).
  • General Election 1997 Ephemera (GENERAL ELECTION 1997).
  • General Election 2001 Ephemera (GENERAL ELECTION 2001).
  • General Election 2005 Ephemera (GENERAL ELECTION 2005).
  • General Election 2010 Ephemera (GE2010).
• If you want to search these collections for a particular person or constituency, use the Any Text facility on the Advanced Search of the LSE Archives catalogue. Narrow by selecting "Elections" in the Level picklist.
• Other election ephemera may be found scattered among other collections at LSE Archives. For a list of the collections which are catalogued to item-level on the Archives catalogue see Completed Catalogues.