“They really did us proud”:Legal Solidarity and the 1984-1985 Miners’ Strike

The 1984-1985 miners’ strike was one of the most fiercely contested industrial conflicts in British history. With thousands of arrests and an extraordinary amount of civil litigation, the strike transformed the courts into intense legal and political battlegrounds. While the role of law and legal institutions in undermining the strike is well documented, the contributions of lawyers in furthering the miners’ cause are largely unexamined. Drawing on archival research and oral history interviews conducted by the author, this article explores the legal victories and defeats of this period, and the ongoing campaigns for justice and accountability. In doing so, it reveals the remarkable networks of legal solidarity that emerged during the miners’ strike, and the impact of these explosive experiences on those who took part.