The challenge
In the 1980s, "the UK's national museums faced political pressure from the Conservative government to charge for admission, to make them less dependent on government funding".




20 September 2026 – 20 October 2026

25 September 2026 – 04 December 2026

05 October 2026 – 03 January 2027

In the 1980s, "the UK's national museums faced political pressure from the Conservative government to charge for admission, to make them less dependent on government funding".
In 1997, the new Labour government made a commitment to reinstate free entry for national museums in order to have a more diverse range of visitors. "Following a campaign led by the museums themselves,
The national museums which dropped charges all saw substantial increases to their visitor numbers, an average of 70 percent. In the first year after free admission was introduced visitor figures.

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