# Winter of Discontent (1978)

URL: https://english-history.com/timeline/1978-winter-of-discontent
Categories: main-event

Widespread strikes disrupted public and private services during a period of pay restraint and inflation. Within the broader Postwar & Modern Uk period, decolonization, welfare institutions, migration, European integration and withdrawal, devolution and social change reshaped the modern United Kingdom. This event is placed at 1978–1979 in the chronology so it can be read alongside the political, military, social and cultural changes around it. The crisis badly damaged the Labour government and helped shift public politics toward the Conservatives.

## Why it matters
The crisis badly damaged the Labour government and helped shift public politics toward the Conservatives.

Ruler at the time: [Elizabeth II](https://english-history.com/rulers/elizabeth-ii)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Winter of Discontent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Winter+of+Discontent&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Winter of Discontent](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Winter+of+Discontent)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of British history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_British_history)
- [The National Archives — Postwar collection](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/explore-by-time-period/postwar/)