The
1983 UK general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
under
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the only woman to have held either post....
the most decisive election victory since
that of Labour in 1945The United Kingdom General Election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks...
.
The opposition vote split almost evenly between the SDP/Liberal Alliance and Labour. With its worst performance since 1918, the Labour vote fell by over 3 million from 1979 and this accounted for both a national swing of almost 4% towards the Conservatives and their larger parliamentary majority of 144, even though the Conservatives' total vote did fall slightly.
Mrs Thatcher's first four years as prime minister of the United Kingdom had not been an easy time.
October 1974 electionThe United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974. It was the second of two United Kingdom general elections held that year. Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, having taken power in a hung parliament after the February election, returned to the polls and won a tiny...
• MPs |
1979 electionThe United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 and is regarded as a pivotal point in 20th century British politics. The Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher defeated James Callaghan's incumbent Labour government in what would prove to be the first of four consecutive general...
• MPsThis is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 48th Parliament of the United Kingdom in the 1979 general election, held on 3 May 1979. This Parliament was dissolved in 1983....
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| 1983 election • MPs This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 49th Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1983 in the 1983 general election, held on 9 June 1983...
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1987 electionThe United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987 and was the third consecutive victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher...
• MPsThis is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 50th Parliament of the United Kingdom in the 1987 general election, held on 11 June 1987. The Parliament lasted until 1992, although the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was replaced in 1990 by John Major....
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1992 electionThe United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party.John Major had won the leadership election in November 1990 succeeding the outgoing PM Margaret Thatcher....
• MPsThis is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom in the United Kingdom in the 1992 general election, held on 9 April 1992....
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The
1983 UK general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
under
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the only woman to have held either post....
the most decisive election victory since
that of Labour in 1945The United Kingdom General Election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks...
.
The opposition vote split almost evenly between the SDP/Liberal Alliance and Labour. With its worst performance since 1918, the Labour vote fell by over 3 million from 1979 and this accounted for both a national swing of almost 4% towards the Conservatives and their larger parliamentary majority of 144, even though the Conservatives' total vote did fall slightly.
Mrs Thatcher's first four years as prime minister of the United Kingdom had not been an easy time. Unemployment had rocketed in the first three years of her time in office as she battled to control inflation that had ravaged Britain for most of the
1970sThe 1970s was the decade that ran from January 1, 1970, to December 31, 1979.In the Western world, social progressive values that began in the 1960s, such as increasing political awareness and political and economic liberty of women, continued to grow...
. By the start of 1982, unemployment had passed the 3,000,000 mark - for the first time since before the Second World War - and the economy had been in recession for nearly two years. However, British victory in the
Falklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
later that year sparked a dramatic rise in Tory popularity, and as Mrs Thatcher's new found popularity continued in 1983 the Tories were most people's firm favourites to win the election.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393313.stm
The SDP-Liberal Alliance polled only 675,985 votes behind the Labour Party but received 186 fewer seats. The Liberals argued that a proportional electoral system would have given them a more representative number of MPs. Changing the electoral system had been a long-running Liberal Party campaign plank and would later be adopted by the
Liberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Liberals, are a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party; the two parties had been in alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of...
.
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again...
leader
Michael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot is a British politician and writer. He was leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983.-Family:Foot's father, Isaac Foot, was a solicitor and founder of the Plymouth law firm, Foot and Bowden...
resigned soon after the election and was succeeded by
Neil KinnockNeil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock of Bedwellty is a Welsh Labour politician, who was a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1995, and was the Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1992, when he resigned after being defeated in the 1992 general election...
.
Results
The Conservatives won with a majority of 144 seats
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Total votes cast: 30,661,309. All parties with more than 500 votes shown.
N.B. The Alliance vote is compared with the Liberal PartyThe Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become...
vote in the 1979 election.
The Independent Unionist elected in the 1979 electionThe United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 and is regarded as a pivotal point in 20th century British politics. The Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher defeated James Callaghan's incumbent Labour government in what would prove to be the first of four consecutive general...
defended and held his seat for the Ulster Popular Unionist PartyThe Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995....
. The United Ulster Unionist PartyThe United Ulster Unionist Party was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1982.It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the late 1970s...
dissolved and its sole MP did not re-stand.
The
Independent RepublicanMeredith Francis Maguire was an Independent Republican Member of Parliament in Northern Ireland.Born in Lisnaskea and educated in Athlone, Maguire worked in his youth in a pub owned by his uncle, future Nationalist Party politician John Carron...
elected in
the 1979 electionThe United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 and is regarded as a pivotal point in 20th century British politics. The Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher defeated James Callaghan's incumbent Labour government in what would prove to be the first of four consecutive general...
died in 1981. In the ensuring by-election the seat was won by
Bobby SandsRobert Gerard Sands , commonly known as Bobby Sands, , was an Irish Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while in HM Prison Maze .He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike, in which Irish republican prisoners protested...
, an Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner who then died and was succeeded by an Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner. He defended and lost his seat standing for
Sinn FéinSinn Féin is a political party in Ireland. The current party, led by Gerry Adams, was formed following a split in January 1970 and traces its origins back to the original Sinn Féin party formed in 1905. It is a major party of Irish republicanism and its political ideology is left wing...
who contested seats in Northern Ireland for the first time since
1959This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
.
This election was fought under revised boundaries. The changes reflect those comparing to the notional results on the new boundaries. One significant change was the increase in the number of seats allocated to Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
from 12 to 17.
Votes summary
Seats summary
Notional Election 1979
Following boundary changes in 1983, the BBC and
ITNITN is a major news and content provider with headquarters in the United Kingdom. It is made up of five key businesses: ITN News, ITN Source, ITN On, ITN Factual and ITN Consulting....
(Independent Television News) co-produced a calculation of how the 1979 general election would have gone if fought on the new 1983 boundaries. The following table shows the effects of the boundary changes on the House of Commons:
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Background to Election 1983
Michael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot is a British politician and writer. He was leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983.-Family:Foot's father, Isaac Foot, was a solicitor and founder of the Plymouth law firm, Foot and Bowden...
was elected leader of the Labour party in 1980, replacing
James CallaghanLeonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
. The election of Foot signalled that the core of the party was swinging to the left and the move exacerbated divisions within the party. In 1981 a group of senior figures including
Roy JenkinsRoy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician. Once prominent as a Labour Member of Parliament and government minister in the 1960s and 1970s, he became the first British President of the European Commission and one of the four principal founders of the Social...
,
David OwenDavid Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FKC is a British politician and Chancellor of the University of Liverpool.He was one of the founders of the British Social Democratic Party . He led the SDP from 1983 to 1987 and the re-formed SDP from 1988 to 1990...
, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams left Labour to found the
Social Democratic PartyThe Social Democratic Party was a political party of the United Kingdom that existed nationwide between 1981 and 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the Gang of Four: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
(SDP). The SDP agreed to a pact with the
LiberalsThe Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become...
for the 1983 elections and stood as
The AllianceThe SDP-Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal...
.
The campaign displayed the huge divisions between the two major parties. Thatcher had been extremely unpopular during her first two years in office until the swift and decisive victory in the Falklands War, coupled with an improving economy, considerably raised her standings in the polls. The Conservatives' key issues included employment, economic growth, and defence. Labour's campaign manifesto involved leaving the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community was an international organisation that existed between 1958 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.It was...
, abolishing the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
, abandoning the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's nuclear deterrent by cancelling
TridentA trident , also called a leister or gig, is a three-pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and was formerly also a military weapon. Tridents feature widely in mythical, historical and modern culture. The sea god Poseidon or Neptune is classically depicted bearing a trident.Note that a...
and removing cruise missiles — a policy programme dubbed by Labour MP
Gerald KaufmanSir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Manchester Gorton since 1983, and was both a government minister during the 1970s, and a member of the Shadow Cabinet in the 1980s.-Early life:Born in Leeds, the son of Louis and Jane Kaufman, and...
as
"the longest suicide note in history""The longest suicide note in history" is an epithet originally used by Gerald Kaufman to describe the United Kingdom Labour Party's left-wing 1983 election manifesto, which called for unilateral nuclear disarmament, withdrawal from the European Economic Community, abolition of the House of Lords...
. "Although, at barely 37 pages, it only seemed interminable", noted
Roy HattersleyRoy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley is a British Labour politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.-Early life:...
. Pro-Labour political journalist
Michael WhiteMichael White is an associate editor and former political editor of The Guardian. White was raised in Wadebridge, Cornwall. He was educated at Bodmin Grammar School and then studied for a BA in History at University College London...
, writing in
The GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
, commented, "There was something magnificently brave about Michael Foot's campaign — but it was like the Battle of the Somme."
Conservative Targets
- Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Boundaries :The Isle of Wight forms a single constituency of the House of Commons, with an electorate of 108,253...
- Oxford East
- Cunninghame North
Cunninghame North was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005, when it was largely replaced by North Ayrshire and Arran...
- Corby
Corby is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is currently a marginal seat between Labour and the Conservatives.-Boundaries:...
- Nottingham East
Nottingham East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries :...
- Hertfordshire West
- Mitcham and Morden
- Derbyshire South
- Leicestershire North West
- Southampton Itchen
- Halifax
Halifax is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Stockton South
- Lewisham West
- Edmonton
Edmonton is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Stevenage
Stevenage is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- York
- Darlington
Darlington is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Ceredigion and Pembroke North
- Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber
Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Bridgend
Bridgend is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returns one Member of Parliament , elected by the first past the post voting system....
Labour Targets
In order to regain an overall majority, Labour needed to make at least 65 gains.
- Birmingham Northfield
- Bury South
Bury South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Dulwich
Dulwich is a former borough constituency in the Dulwich area of South London, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
- Liverpool Broadgreen
Liverpool Broadgreen was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Broadgreen suburb of Liverpool. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
- Nottingham South
Nottingham South is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
- Aberdeen South
Aberdeen South is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
- Stirling
Stirling is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
- Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Luton South
Luton South is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
- Calder Valley
Calder Valley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Pendle
Pendle is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
- Bolton North East
- Cardiff Central
Cardiff Central is a borough constituency in the city of Cardiff. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....
- Croydon North West
Croydon North West was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Politics and history of the constituency :...
- Fulham
Fulham was a borough constituency based around the London district of Fulham. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1918 and from 1955 to 1997....
- Cambridge
Cambridge is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Boundaries :The constituency roughly covers the city of Cambridge, including areas such as Chesterton, Newnham and Cherry Hinton, although two wards in the south of the city are in...
- Birmingham Erdington
- Dudley West
Dudley West was a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Dudley in the West Midlands. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
- Welwyn Hatfield
Welwyn Hatfield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1974 as 'Welwyn and Hatfield'.- Boundaries :...
- Glasgow Cathcart
Glasgow Cathcart was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 2005. It was replaced by the larger Glasgow South constituency.-Boundaries:...
Alliance Targets
- Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Roxburgh and Berwickshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 2005...
- Richmond and Barnes
Richmond and Barnes was a parliamentary constituency in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, a south-western suburb of the capital. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
- Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
- Chelmsford
Chelmsford will be a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From the next general election will elect one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
- Wiltshire North
- Cornwall North
- Hereford
Hereford is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom comprising the City of Hereford and most of South Herefordshire, including Ross-on-Wye but excluding Ledbury and Much Marcle both of which are in the Leominster constituency.-Boundary review:Following their...
- Colne Valley
Colne Valley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. In the post-war period the seat had the distinction of being one of the few Labour/Liberal marginals,...
- Gordon
Gordon is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , which elects one member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
- Southport
Southport is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Salisbury
Salisbury is a county constituency centred on the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire. It elects one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, by the first past the post voting system....
- Devon North
- Gainsborough and Horncastle
- Cornwall South East
- Clwyd South West
Clwyd South West was a county constituency in Clwyd, North Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
- Liverpool Broadgreen
Liverpool Broadgreen was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Broadgreen suburb of Liverpool. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
- Newbury
Newbury is a United Kingdom House of Commons constituency consisting of Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and a large part of the surrounding area of West Berkshire. To the east, parts of West Berkshire have been incorporated into the Wokingham or Reading West constituencies...
- Yeovil
- Pudsey
Pudsey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
- Ross, Cromarty and Skye
Ross, Cromarty and Skye was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election....
See also
Manifestos