| | by admin | | posted on 2nd August 2025 | Postcards | | views 6 | |
Leeds Postcards a small press with a big voice in political, feminist and anti-nuclear art.
Leeds Postcards was founded in 1979 by Richard Alexander, emerging from the ferment of radical politics, DIY publishing, and community print culture in West Yorkshire. At a time when the Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher was clashing with trade unions, peace campaigners, and the women’s movement, the need for accessible, low-cost media became increasingly urgent. Leeds Postcards met that need with a deceptively simple tool: the postcard.
With its small format and broad reach, the postcard proved a powerful vehicle for protest. Alexander, a teacher and activist, was inspired by the idea that ordinary people could use humour, satire, and art to challenge dominant narratives. Drawing on the traditions of political cartooning, photomontage, and agitprop, Leeds Postcards became a platform for messages that might otherwise be censored, ignored or marginalised by the mainstream press.
From the beginning, Leeds Postcards addressed the major issues of the day: unemployment, nuclear weapons, housing inequality, war, racism, and gender discrimination. Their postcards were not only designed to be sent through the post but also pinned to walls, carried on marches, and sold at radical bookshops, peace festivals and campaign stalls.
The peace movement was a central theme. Leeds Postcards regularly collaborated with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), producing postcards that featured bold slogans such as “No Cruise, No Trident, No Nukes” or graphics of crumbling missile silos. During the height of anti-nuclear protests at Greenham Common and Molesworth, their cards were a visible part of the protest culture, distributed widely among activists.
Equally significant were the feminist postcards. Leeds Postcards worked closely with women artists to create designs challenging patriarchy, sexism, and gender-based violence. The collective published cards that celebrated International Women’s Day, raised awareness of domestic abuse, and offered counter-narratives to sexist advertising.
While many of the cards were unsigned or made anonymously, the press worked with a number of notable political artists, including Peter Kennard, whose photomontages of missile-ridden landscapes became iconic. Satirical illustrators such as Roy Carr and Sally Artz also contributed, producing cartoons that combined wit and visual punch.
One famous design depicted missiles being flushed down a toilet with the caption “Now wash your hands” — a cheeky jab at the absurdity of nuclear stockpiles. Another memorable card showed Margaret Thatcher wearing sunglasses and declaring “The lady’s not for turning… but she might be for nuking.”
The aesthetic of the postcards was deliberately varied. Some used collage and bold graphics; others mimicked advertising styles or spoofed political posters. The press encouraged creativity and welcomed designs from first-time artists and grassroots campaigners, further strengthening its democratic ethos.
Leeds Postcards remains an active and vibrant independent publishing co‑op more than four decades after its founding in 1979. Though it started in the living room of Richard Scott, the project evolved into a resilient collective—founded on political urgency and creative expression. When the former co‑op structure dissolved in the mid‑1990s, Christine Hankinson took over, operating it single‑handedly from her home in Headingley while keeping overheads low and output consistent.
In 2008, Thea Mallett joined the team, helping build a website and online store at leedspostcards.co.uk, bringing digital capability while remaining committed to traditional print methods. Today, Leeds Postcards continues to produce new designs and make cards available through its own website as well as multiple independent shops and galleries.
In 2018, four decades of activism and graphic sharpness were captured in a hardcover publication titled Leeds Postcards, produced by Four Corners Books and co-edited with graphic designer Craig Oldham. This book was a celebration of the press’s long-running oppositional voice, featuring around 100 postcard designs spanning national and international campaigns from 1979 to date.
Despite the downturn of postcards as a mainstream medium, Leeds Postcards thrives by embracing its niche. It continues to print on recycled board with soy-based inks, publishes new activist and feminist designs, and remains committed to its ethos of affordable, visual political communication. As Christine Hankinson puts it, they aim to "inform, challenge, question and maybe just amuse"—with each card punching “way above its weight” in the realm of protest art.
