Private Eye Magazine Collection

Private Eye magazine is a fortnightly satirical publication that has been in print from 1961 until the present day.  It describes itself as the “UK’s number one best-selling magazine, offering a unique blend of humour, social and political observations and investigative journalism.” 

While a popular magazine, it has been no stranger to controversy, having been subject to numerous lawsuits, successful and unsuccessful, for its treatments of public figures. It has also received complaints on numerous occasions for its take on current events.   

The Arts, Design and Media Archive holds a collection of 147 Private magazines which range from 2018 to 2024, with one stray copy from 2016 relating to the appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister. 

Although it only covers a 6 year time period it encompasses a complex and turbulent political era which saw Brexit negotiations, the 2019 election, the international Covid Pandemic, the collapse of the Johnson government, the collapse of the Truss government, the death of a monarch and the coronation of another. These years were a rich source of content for comedians, satirists and journalists.