An unknown book about a boy wizard, Harry Potter, rolled off the presses, its publishers expecting to sell just 500 copies. Paparazzi hungered for exclusive photos of Lady Diana. And everywhere, you heard the Spice Girls telling you to spice up your life.
The year was 1997 and it was the last time, until now, that Labour had seized power from the Tories, kicking a Conservative prime minister out of Downing Street.
Then as now, Labour won a landslide victory, ending more than a decade of Tory government – 18 years in 1997 and 14 years now.
But while it’s tempting to draw parallels between Tony Blair and Keir Starmer, much has changed in Britain in the last 27 years.
Blair inherited from his Tory predecessor, John Major, a healthy economy, and started his premiership in a decade of relative stability and prosperity.
Starmer has to grapple with a cost of living crisis, the aftermath of Brexit and the COVID pandemic, and at least two major global crises in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
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“The national mood is very different,” said Adam Boulton, political commentator and Sky News’ former political editor.
“1997 was optimistic, summarised by Labour’s unofficial campaign anthem Things Can Only Get Better.
“2024 is pessimistic – the song has resurfaced but more in the sense of, ‘things can’t possibly get worse – can they’.”
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The Spice Girls had several hit singles in 1997. Pic: PA
Tony Blair was first elected in May 1997 – at 43, he was a youthful prime minister who promised a “new dawn”. The approach of the new millennium added to a sense of excitement.
“It felt as if a fresh era was beginning,” Blair wrote in his memoir A Journey, recalling the enthusiasm of a crowd assembled outside No 10 the day after he won the vote.
“It ran…
