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....
|
1983 electionThe 1983 UK general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945.The opposition vote split almost evenly between the SDP/Liberal Alliance and Labour...
• MPsThis 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...
|
| 1987 election • MPs This 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....
|
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....
|
1997 electionThe UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992. The Labour Party won the general election in a landslide victory with 418 seats, the most seats the party has ever held...
• MPsThis is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 52nd House of Commons at the 1997 general election, held on 1 May 1997.The list is arranged by constituency...
|
The
United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987 and was the third consecutive victory for 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 the leadership of
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....
. She was the first Prime Minister since
the 2nd Earl of LiverpoolRobert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool PC was a British politician and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since the Union with Ireland in 1801...
to lead a party to three successive election victories, a record subsequently equalled by
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
.
The Conservative government had survived the industrial disputes with mine workers (1984–85) and print unions (1985–86), and had weathered the 1986
Westland affairThe Westland affair was a political scandal for the British Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1986. The argument was a result of differences of opinion within the government as to the future of the United Kingdom helicopter industry. The struggling Westland company, Britain's last...
even with the resignation of
Michael HeseltineMichael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group....
and Leon Brittan, and the overall economy was strong. The
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...
party at the time was slowly returning to a more centrist stance under new leader
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...
and was expecting to do much better than in the
1983 electionThe 1983 UK general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945.The opposition vote split almost evenly between the SDP/Liberal Alliance and Labour...
. The main aim of the Labour party was, arguably, not to win a majority of parliamentary seats but simply to re-establish themselves as the main progressive centre-left alternative to the Conservatives, after the rise of the SDP forced Labour onto the defence. Indeed, the Labour party succeeded in doing so with this general election. The
SDPThe 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...
and the
LiberalThe 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...
s renewed their
SDP-Liberal 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...
but co-leaders
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...
and
David SteelDavid Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British and Scottish politician and a Liberal Democrat member of the UK House of Lords...
could not agree whether to support either major party in the event of a
hung parliamentIn parliamentary systems, a hung parliament is one in which no one political party has an outright majority, and means it is most commonly equally balanced. This situation is normal in many legislatures with proportional representation such as Germany or Italy, or in legislatures with strong...
. This turned out to be a purely academic problem, as the Conservatives were re-elected with a reduced majority of 102 seats. The failure of the SDP-Liberal Alliance to break through the electoral barriers ultimately resulted in the merger of the two parties in 1988 to become the Social and Liberal Democrats (latterly
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...
).
The run-up to the 1987 election had been a rough ride for the Conservatives. The
Miner's StrikeThe UK Miners' Strike was major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...
of 1984/85 had seen the industry grind to a virtual standstill for 12 months as miners went on strike in protest against Mrs Thatcher's plans to close 20
coal minesCoal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal. Coal that is used to create coke for steel manufacturing is referred to as coking or metallurgical coal...
in
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a legal unit within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales follow the legal system known as English law, and the two form the constitutional successor to the...
, a move which would claim 20,000 jobs and deprive many communities of their main source of employment. In 1986, government ministers Leon Brittan and
Michael HeseltineMichael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group....
had resigned over the
Westland affairThe Westland affair was a political scandal for the British Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1986. The argument was a result of differences of opinion within the government as to the future of the United Kingdom helicopter industry. The struggling Westland company, Britain's last...
and Mrs Thatcher was reportedly considering her resignation. However, Britain had come a long way since the 1983 election. Unemployment had fallen below 3,000,000 for the first time since 1981, inflation was at a mere 4% (its lowest for nearly 20 years) and the economy generally in its healthiest position for many years - combined with Labour and the Liberals scrapping for the anti-Conservative vote. The tabloid media also had strong support for the Conservatives, particularly
The SunThe Sun may refer to -* The Sun a tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland* Sun, the star at the center of the Solar System...
newspaper who ran anti-Labour articles with headlines such as
Why I'm backing Kinnock, by Stalin.
Results
|}
All parties gaining over 500 votes listed.
Votes summary
Seats summary
Campaign and policies
The Conservatives' campaign emphasized lower taxes, a strong economy, and defence, and also employed rapid-response reactions to take advantage of Labour errors. Tim Bell and Saatchi and Saatchi produced memorable posters for the Conservatives, such as a picture of a British soldier's arms raised in surrender with the caption: "Labour's Policy On Arms"—a reference to Labour's policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament. The first Conservative
party political broadcastA party political broadcast is a short television or radio broadcast made by a political party....
played on the theme of "Freedom" and ended with a fluttering Union Jack, the hymn
I Vow to Thee, My CountryI Vow to Thee, My Country is a British patriotic song created in 1921 when a poem by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice was set to music by Gustav Holst.-History:...
and the slogan: "It's Great To Be Great Again".
The Labour campaign was a marked change from previous efforts; professionally directed by
Peter MandelsonPeter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician who is the current First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, President of the Board of Trade and Lord President of the Council...
and
Bryan GouldBryan Charles Gould, CNZM is a former UK politician. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, and then a tutorial Fellow in law at Worcester College....
, it concentrated on presenting and improving Neil Kinnock's image to the electorate. Labour's first party political broadcast, dubbed
Kinnock: The Movie, was directed by
Hugh HudsonHugh Hudson is a British film director.- Early life :Hudson was born in London, the only son of Jacynth Ellerton, who was the second wife of Michael Donaldson-Hudson from Cheswardine Hall in rural north Shropshire. His paternal ancestors came from Scotland and Cumberland...
of
Chariots of FireChariots of Fire is a 1981 British film loosely based on historical events surrounding the British athletic team before and during the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris...
fame, and concentrated on portraying Kinnock as a caring, compassionate family man. Kinnock's personal popularity jumped 16% overnight after the initial broadcast.
On 24 May Kinnock was interviewed by
David FrostSir David Paradine Frost, OBE is an British journalist, comedian, writer and media personality, best known as a pioneer of political satire on television and for his serious interviews with various political figures, the most notable being Richard Nixon. Since 2006, he has hosted the weekly...
and claimed that Labour's alternative defence strategy in the event of a Soviet attack would be "using the resources you've got to make any occupation totally untenable". In a speech two days later Mrs. Thatcher attacked Labour's defence policy as a programme for "defeat, surrender, occupation, and finally, prolonged guerilla fighting...I do not understand how anyone who aspires to Government can treat the defence of our country so lightly."
Result
The Conservatives were returned with a 102-seat majority, down 42 on 1983 with a swing of about 1% toward Labour. Increasing polarisation marked divisions across the country: the Conservatives dominated
southern EnglandSouthern England, The South and The South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands and East Anglia. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region...
and took additional seats from Labour in the south but performed less well in
Northern EnglandNorthern England, also known as the North of England, or simply The North is a cultural region or identity of England in the United Kingdom. It is not a government administrative region, but rather an amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
. Yet the overall result of this election proved that the
policiesThatcherism describes the ideology, political style and policies of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
of Margaret Thatcher retained significant support, with the Conservatives given a third convincing majority.
Despite initial optimism and the professional campaign run 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...
, the election brought only twenty additional seats for Labour from the 1983 Conservative landslide. However, it represented a decisive victory against the SDP-Liberal Alliance and marked out the Labour Party as the main opposition to the Conservative Party. This was in stark contrast to 1983, when the Labour Party and the SDP-Liberal Alliance took a roughly equal share of the vote.
The result for the SDP-Liberal Alliance was a disappointment, in that they had hoped to overtake Labour as the second party in the UK in terms of vote share. Instead they lost one net seat and saw their vote share drop by almost 3%, with a widening gap of 8% between them and the Labour party (compared to a 2% gap four years before). These results would eventually lead to the end of the SDP-Liberal Alliance and the birth of the Liberal Democrats.
Most of the prominent MPs retained their seats. Notable failures included
Enoch PowellJohn Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, linguist, writer, academic, soldier and poet.He was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament between 1950 and February 1974, and an Ulster Unionist MP between October 1974 and 1987. He was controversial through most of his career, and his tenure...
and two SDP-Liberal Alliance members, Liberal
Clement FreudSir Clement Raphael Freud was an English broadcaster, writer, politician and chef.-Early life:Freud was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish parents Ernst Ludwig Freud, an architect, and Lucie née Brasch. He was the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the brother of artist Lucian Freud...
and former SDP leader
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...
.
In
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...
the various unionist parties maintained an electoral pact (with a few dissenters) in opposition to the
Anglo-Irish AgreementThe Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
.
Turnout: 32,530,204 (75.3%)
Manifestos