London Parents' Ballot Campaign

The London Parents Ballot Campaign (LPBC) was set up as a sub-committee of the Parents Central Consultative Committee of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), which represented the 3,000 or so elected Parent Governors of ILEA schools. It was run by Thomas Gretton (Chair), Corinne Julius (Secretary) and Diana Simpson (Treasurer), along with scores of volunteers. The Campaign was intended to ask the opinion of parents about the transfer of responsibility for education services from the ILEA to local authorities. The abolition of the ILEA was included in the 1988 Education Reform Bill, but had not been mentioned in any of the consultation documents. The LPBC was an attempt to canvass the views of parents before the Bill passed to the House of Lords. An initial press conference announcing the campaign was held on the 8 February 1988, and the Ballot took place in the last two weeks of March. The Campaign was funded through voluntary contributions from parents, businesses, unions and London boroughs; as well as fundraising events, culminating in a gala performance at the Albery Theatre. The ballot was supervised by the Electoral Reform Society, and provided one vote for each of the 280,000 children in London schools. It closed on the 31st of March, and revealed a 55 per cent return and a 94 per cent vote against the government's ILEA abolition proposals. The ILEA was abolished in March 1990.