Welcome to the Bernie Grant Digital Archive, a tribute to the life and times of the late Bernie Grant MP.
Bernie Grant MP (1944 – 2000), was born in Guyana to schoolteacher parents, and migrated to Britain in 1963. He enrolled in Tottenham Technical College before going on to study engineering at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland. He left his studies in 1969 as protest against discrimination against black students. For the next 9 years, he became an International Telephonist, and became a leading activist in the Union of Post Office Workers, fighting for the rights of fellow workers. He was one of the organisers of the Post Office strike in 1970. Grant joined the Tottenham Labour Party in 1973, and was elected a local councillor in 1978.
He quickly gained the support and trust of his local community, through his work in combatting racial discrimination, and advocating for better care of constituents and council services that addressed the needs of all groups of people. In 1985 he became Council Leader, and was the first black person in Europe to hold such a position. He championed a number of policies to eradicate all forms of discrimination. During this time Haringey Council was one of the few local authorities to develop policies allowing greater access for the disabled, tackle gender and racial discrimination, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He attracted the attention of the national press, and became victim of racist media campaigns by tabloid press who sought to undermine his political work, branding him a leading member of the ‘Loony Left’, during the era of Thatcherism.
In the same year as his election to Haringey Council Leader, he came under scrutiny for his advocacy of young people during the Broadwater Farm Uprising. This didn’t stop the widespread support he received from his local community, and indeed many people across the nation. This led to his election in 1987 as Tottenham Member of Parliament, when he made history as one of the three first black people elected as MPs, alongside Diane Abbott and Paul Boateng. For more information on Bernie Grant’s life, read: Bernie Grant – A Short Biography
ABOUT
Through this site you can learn not only his story, but also that of the generation of black and global majority citizens who arrived in Britain in the post war period, and those who, alongside Grant, were involved in promoting positive change in society in the late 20th century. This is an organic project, and we consider it to be a work in progress, and continually expanding resource.
The Bernie Grant Archive, which is held at the Bishopsgate Institute, has recently undergone a process of digitisation, to ensure the accessibility and preservation of key items within the archive collection. The Digitisation Project represents an exciting new chapter for community archives in the UK, and presents the first such archive collection of its kind in the UK.
The Bernie Grant Trust first began this project in 2024, in the hope that through this digital collection, many people will discover or re-discover the legacy of the late Bernie Grant MP, those who worked alongside him in British politics in the late 20th century into the new millennium, and the major projects and issues that they took up. This digital collection also prompts visitors to consider how Bernie Grant’s life’s work can be used to question what the role of a political representative is (whether local, national and international), and perhaps what it should be.
This process of digitising a major collection included highlighting key themes within the collection, and categorising the archived material within these themes to present the major campaigns and sites of struggle by Bernie Grant, and a generation of activists, public figures and community members during the late 20th century.
Reparations
This section traces Bernie Grant’s work in developing the African Reparations Movement, arguing the need for Reparations in Parliament and beyond. It also presents key papers and other materials from several significant conferences in Reparations, including the 1990 World Conference on Reparations, the 1993 Abuja Conference, and the 1993 Birmingham Conference.
Politics: Local and Central Government
In 1985, Bernie Grant was elected leader of Haringey Council, making him the only Black individual in Europe to lead a local council at the time. Prior to this, Grant was a key figure in the Council, advocating for better services for marginalised sections of the local community, including Black, elderly, disabled, young and LGBT groups. This was not an easy feet, in the context of Thatcherism, growing austerity, and media attacks on what was referred to as the ‘Loony Left’. Haringey and other Left-leaning councils often found themselves at odds with the methods of central government. These disputes exposed the question of how much power central government could or should have, over localised issues and affairs.
Politics: Black Sections, the first Black MPs, and the Parliamentary Black Caucus
Grant’s archive contains a significant collection of statements, letters and other materials, related to the various initiatives put forth by Grant and other Black political figures, to boost representation of Black people in Politics, and better prioritise issues of race. These initiatives include the Labour Party Black Sections, Parliamentary Black Caucus, Rainbow Coalition, and of course, the historic election of the first three Black MPs to Parliament in the general election.
Challenging Oppressive Policing
As an elected representative, first of Haringey, then of Tottenham and indeed of Black British communities, much of Grant’s work focused on challenging the deep-rooted racism and abuses of power present in policing practices in the late 20th century and into the millennium. There were specific events throughout his career that exemplified his role as a voice for the marginalised, including in the run up to, and the aftermath of the Broadwater Farm Uprising of 1985, the death of Joy Gardner at the hands of immigration and police officials, the Stephen Lawrence and Roland Adams campaigns, and the abuse of stop and search powers to target young Black people. This section includes papers, pamphlets, and other campaign materials, relevant for research on these historic events, and indeed context for navigating current issues.
Fighting Racism in Britain and Europe
This section traces campaigns, projects and debates that Bernie Grant was involved in, relating to fighting against racism both in Britain, and in Europe. This included instances of racism in popular culture, the media, and governmental legislations, and creating progressive social and community projects to foster cultural pride for Black communities. As the European Community developed its approach to non-EU immigration and asylum cases, Grant also became a voice for Black and ethnic minority people across the continent, and condemned the growth of racism and fascism as it swept across Europe in the 1990s.
Internationalism and Anti-Imperialism
In an intense era of globalisation and military conflicts across the globe, Grant was a vocal proponent against Western intervention, and offered solidarity to developing nations as they struggled against imperialism and colonialism. Across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, Grant forged connections with political representatives, and was eager to understand the plights of local communities. He conducted numerous fact finding missions, to nations such as Libya and Montserrat, to better represent the nuanced issues facing these nations in the House of Commons. Apartheid in South Africa was one of the most pertinent issues of the 20th century, and lasted for 50 years (although arguably much longer). Grant was one of the most active elected representatives involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and his archive is testament to that. He travelled to South Africa, met with Nelson Mandela on multiple occasions, and participated in Mandela’s inauguration event in 1994. This section presents Grant’s unwavering internationalism and anti-imperialism.
Trade Unionism
With projects such as the Black Trade Unionist Solidarity Movement (BTUSM), Black International Construction Organisation, and more, Grant’s archive is testament to his many efforts to push for anti-racism and internationalist perspectives to be prioritised within the wider Trade Union movement in Britain. Grant was a longstanding Trade Unionist, having worked as an International Telephonist, and full time area representative for National Union for Public Employees, and as such had a keen interest in worker’s solidarity.
Educational Resources: Key Stages 3 – 5
In addition to these key themes, we have created a series of educational resources, suitable for Key Stages 3-5, which provide summaries on some of the project’s major themes, through specific case studies with helpful primary sources from the archive collection