POLL TAX RIOTS

The Poll Tax Riots were mass disturbances, or riots, which occurred in Britain during protests against the Community Charge (commonly known as the poll tax), introduced by the Tory government led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. By far the largest of these disturbances occurred in central London on Saturday March 31, 1990, shortly before the poll tax was due to come into force in England and Wales. Many believe that the London riot - the largest in the city in the 20th century - was the direct cause of Thatcher's downfall eight months later.
The disorder in central London arose from a demonstration which had begun around 11 a.m. The rioting and looting finally ended at around 3 a.m. the next morning. This riot is sometimes called the Battle of Trafalgar, particularly by opponents of the poll tax, because much of the rioting took place in Trafalgar Square.

Consequences
The fall of Prime Minister Thatcher

It is thought that the riot in central London, together with the countrywide opposition to the Community Charge (which was especially vehement in the North of England and Scotland) strongly contributed to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, who resigned as Prime Minister in November of the same year, still adamantly defending the tax at a time when opinion polls were showing 2% support for it. The next Prime Minister, John Major, announced immediately that it would be abolished.

Abandonment of the Poll Tax
Once Thatcher had resigned, her successor John Major announced in his very first parliamentary speech as Prime Minister that the Community Charge was to be replaced. It was succeeded by the Council Tax, which, unlike the Poll Tax, took some account of ability to pay. While generally less harsh on lower-income earners than the Poll Tax, the new tax took no account of the income earned by the taxpayer, but did take into account the value of the property in connection with which the householder was being taxed.