Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. The Sun introduced the feature in November 1970, which boosted its readership and prompted competing tabloids—including the Daily Mirror, the Sunday People, and the Daily Star—to begin featuring topless models on their own third pages. Well-known Page 3 girls included Linda Lusardi, Samantha Fox and Katie Price.
Although Page 3's defenders portrayed it as a harmless British cultural tradition, the feature was controversial throughout its history, drawing criticism both from conservatives, who tended to view it as softcore pornography inappropriate for inclusion in national newspapers, and feminists, who argued that Page 3 objectified women's bodies and perpetuated sexism. Some politicians, notably Clare Short and Caroline Lucas, campaigned to have Page 3 images banned from newspapers, although other politicians, including Nick Clegg and Ed Vaizey, expressed concern that such a ban would compromise press freedom. The British government never enacted legislation against Page 3. Activists in 2012 launched the No More Page 3 campaign to persuade newspaper editors and owners to end the feature voluntarily.
In August 2013, The Suns Republic of Ireland edition replaced topless Page 3 girls with clothed glamour models. The Sun's UK print editions followed suit in January 2015, discontinuing Page 3 after more than 44 years. The Sun'''s official Page 3 website ceased publishing new content in March 2017 and was taken offline the following year. In April 2019, the Daily Star became the last print daily to move to a clothed glamour format, ending the Page 3 convention in Britain's mainstream tabloid press. As of 2023, the only British tabloid still publishing topless models is the niche Sunday Sport.
History
After Rupert Murdoch relaunched the loss-making Sun newspaper in tabloid format on 17 November 1969, editor Larry Lamb began to publish photographs of clothed glamour models on its third page to compete with The Suns principal rival, the Daily Mirror, which was then printing photos of models wearing lingerie or bikinis. The Suns first tabloid edition showed that month's Penthouse Pet, Ulla Lindstrom, wearing a suggestively unbuttoned shirt. Page 3 photographs over the following year were often provocative, but did not feature nudity until The Sun celebrated its first anniversary on 17 November 1970 by printing model Stephanie Khan in her "birthday suit" (i.e. in the nude). Sitting in a field, with one of her breasts fully visible from the side, Khan was photographed by Beverley Goodway, who became The Suns principal Page 3 photographer until he retired in 2003. Alison Webster took over Goodway's role in 2005 and remained until the feature was phased out.
Page 3 was not a daily feature at the beginning of the 1970s, and The Sun only gradually began to feature Page 3 models in more overtly topless poses. Believing that Page 3 should feature "nice girls," Lamb sought to avoid the image of top-shelf pornography titles, and asked the Sun's female reporters to review Page 3 images to ensure women would not regard them as "dirty". Regardless, the feature, and the paper's other sexual content, led to some public libraries banning The Sun. A then Conservative-controlled council in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire took the first such decision, but reversed it after a series of local stunts organised by the newspaper and a change in the council's political orientation in 1971.