The Thatcher government of the 1980s galvanised Gaughan politically. He had never hidden his strong socialist beliefs and all his albums had included songs by such writers as Hamish Henderson, Ewan MacColl, Dominic Behan, Ed Pickford and Leon Rosselson. Now, however, he felt that "It was quite clearly time to stop reporting and start participating" and his next album, "A Different Kind of Love Song" (1983) was, he said, "a full-frontal onslaught, basically an anti Cold War polemic". All of its songs, which were performed in a variety of styles ranging from acoustic folk to electric rock 'n' roll, exuded political commitment. Gaughan also extended his political activism to areas other than singing. He instigated the setting up of "Perform", an organisation which aimed to facilitate co-operation across the folk music world, he joined the agitprop theatre group and during the UK miners' strike (1984–85) he was Chair of the Leith Miners' Support Group.