So, late in the day, it brought in four consultants to do the job: Ken Hulme, Sue Beardon, David Bradford and Hollingsworth.
There were also a large number of stalls manned by community groups and other external organisations; an exhibition of the GLC's work; speeches and a five-hour rolling debate about jobs and employment in the council chamber of County Hall.
The festival's music was provided by a huge array of artists that included The Smiths, Billy Bragg, Hank Wangford, The Redskins, Aswad, Mari Wilson, Misty in Roots and Ivor Cutler.
With the aim of creating a culturally diverse mix, Hollingsworth brought in black artists from the US and Africa, including the American poet, singer and writer Gil Scott-Heron and several who had never appeared in London before.
One of the bands was the socialist a cappella group, The Flying Pickets,[10] whose debut single "Only You" was the 1983 Christmas No.1 and, oddly enough, Margaret Thatcher's favourite record.
Livingstone's memory was that he spoke for rather longer, though far shorter than normal: "I was expected to go on [stage] and make one of my fascinating political speeches just before the Smiths were due to perform, by which time the gathered crowds had been waiting for hours for them to appear.
The Redskins were on stage when a large number of National Front supporters arrived after being turned away by the police from a march on Trafalgar Square.
A fight broke out in the crowd and several NF skinheads stormed the stage,[13] injuring one of the guitarists who was taken to hospital accompanied by the compere, Hank Wangford.
The GLC considered the 1984 Jobs for a Change festival a big success and decided to stage another the following July in Battersea Park, south-west London.
The musicians included Billy Bragg, Hank Wangford, Aswad, The Blues Band, The Pogues, The Opposition, The Communards and Frank Chickens.
The acts on the main stage were representative of the festival's cast list and included Ravi Shankar from India, Thomas Mapfumo from Africa, Aswad from Britain, the pop group OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) and the more political Billy Bragg.
The second stage was for the "up-and-coming, raunchy end of the pop market", which took in The Pogues who, according to one website, were so popular that "people were literally hanging out of trees to catch the act that was bringing the house down".
The council said that it would give up its part of the site if its name were put on the GLC posters and if it were given the job of organising and running the beer tent, according to one of those involved in the talks, Steve Pryle.
Hollingsworth said that the GLC was under no obligation to accept the demands and that he agreed to give the beer provision to the council only after the two sides had worked out a detailed plan.
Later that year, it formed the Workers Beer Company, which was given further contracts by Hollingsworth for a GLC Christmas Party for the Unemployed (see below) and the Glastonbury CND festival in 1986 and 1987.
According to his brother Eamon, who is executive vice-chairman, the company "was set up to help raise money when we were dealing with a very hostile council, Wandsworth".
[15] It has also helped set up organisations such as Ethical Threads, a fair-trade company sourcing T-shirts; Left Field, which runs a marquee for political debate and music at Glastonbury; and Clause IV, set up by former miners to organise campaigns for trade unions and infrastructure for events.