United Kingdom general election, 1992
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1983 election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom 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...

  MPs
MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1983
This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 49th Parliament of the United Kingdom in the 1983 general election, held on 9 June 1983...

1987 election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...

  MPs
MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1987
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...

1992 election MPs
MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1992
This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom in the 1992 general election, held on 9 April 1992....

1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

  MPs
MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1997
This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons of the 52nd Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 1997 general election, held on 1 May 1997.The list is arranged by constituency...

2001 election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

  MPs
MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2001
This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at the 2001 general election, held on 7 June.The list is arranged by constituency. New MPs elected since the general election and changes in party allegiance are noted at the bottom of the page...


The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...

 to be consistently, if narrowly, ahead.

John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...

 had won the leadership election
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 1990
The 1990 Conservative Party leadership election in the United Kingdom took place in November 1990 following the decision of former Defence and Environment Secretary Michael Heseltine to stand against the incumbent Conservative leader and Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.Thatcher failed to win...

 in November 1990 following the resignation of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

. During his term leading up to the 1992 elections he oversaw the British involvement in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, introduced legislation to replace the unpopular Community Charge
Community Charge
The Community Charge, popularly known as the "poll tax", was a system of taxation introduced in replacement of the rates to part fund local government in Scotland from 1989, and England and Wales from 1990. It provided for a single flat-rate per-capita tax on every adult, at a rate set by the...

 with Council Tax
Council tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...

, and signed the Maastricht treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...

. The UK had gone into recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...

 around the time of Major's appointment, along with most of the other industrialised nations. John Major announced the date of the election on 11 March shortly after Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

 Norman Lamont had delivered the Budget. It was one of the most dramatic elections in the UK since the end of the Second World War, after the Conservative Party defeated the initial favourites, the Labour Party.

The BBC's live television broadcast of the election results were presented by David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby is a British BBC TV commentator and a presenter of current affairs and political programmes, most notably the BBC's flagship political show Question Time, and more recently, art, architectural history and history series...

 and Peter Snow
Peter Snow
Peter Snow, CBE is a British television and radio presenter. He is the grandson of First World War general Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, and cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News, nephew of schoolmaster and bishop George D'Oyly Snow, and the brother-in-law of historian-writer Margaret...

, with John Cole.

Overview

Labour had been ahead of the Tories in the opinion polls as long ago as 1989. As 1992 dawned, the recession deepened and the election loomed, most opinion polls suggested that Labour were still favourites to win the election, although the lead of the polls had changed from Tory to Labour on several occasions since the end of 1990. However on Election Day Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....

's The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

newspaper ran a front page headline which urged "the last person to leave Britain" to "turn out the lights" if Labour won the election. This headline was widely regarded as the saviour of the Conservative government , and The Sun famously ran a front page headline the next day - It's The Sun Wot Won It
It's The Sun Wot Won It
"It's The Sun Wot Won It" is a famous headline that appeared on the front-page of The Sun on Saturday 11 April 1992, and has since become a political catch phrase in the United Kingdom.-Origin:...

 - to claim that it had won the election for the Conservatives.

Campaign

Under the leadership of Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...

 the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 party had undergone further changes following its 1987 election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...

 defeat. Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 entered the campaign confident with most opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...

s showing a slight Labour lead that if maintained suggested a hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...

, with no single party having an overall majority.

The parties campaigned on the familiar grounds of taxation and health care. Major became known for delivering his speeches while standing on an upturned soapbox
Soapbox
A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment of soap or other dry goods from a manufacturer to a...

 during public meetings.

An early setback to Labour came in the form of the "War of Jennifer's Ear
War of Jennifer's Ear
The War of Jennifer's Ear is the name given to a 1992 controversy in United Kingdom politics, between the opposition Labour Party and the governing Conservative Party...

" controversy, which questioned the truthfulness of a Labour party election broadcast concerning National Health Service
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...

 (NHS) waiting lists.

Labour seemingly recovered from the NHS controversy, and opinion polls on 1 April (dubbed "Red Wednesday") showed a clear Labour lead. But the lead fell considerably in the following day's polls. Observers blamed the decline on the Labour Party's triumphalist "Sheffield Rally
Sheffield Rally
The Sheffield Rally was a political meeting held by the Labour Party on Wednesday 1 April 1992, a week ahead of the 1992 UK general election.The event was held at the Sheffield Arena, an indoor sports venue in Sheffield, England. It was attended by 10,000 Labour Party members, including the entire...

", an enthusiastic American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

-style political convention at the Sheffield Arena. However most analysts and major participants in the campaign believe it actually had little effect, with the event only receiving widespread attention after the election.

This was the first general election for the newly formed Liberal Democrats, which had grown from the formal merging of the SDP-Liberal Alliance
SDP-Liberal Alliance
The 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...

. Its formation had not been without its problems, but under the strong leadership of Paddy Ashdown, who proved to be a likeable and candid figure, the party went into the election ready. They focused on education throughout the campaign, as well as a promise on reforming the voting system.

Minor parties

In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland 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...

 the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

 (SNP) hoped to make a major electoral breakthrough in 1992 and had run a hard independence campaign with Free by '93 as their slogan. Although the party managed to increase its total vote by 50% since 1987, the SNP only held onto the three seats they had won at the previous election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...

. They also lost Glasgow Govan, which their deputy leader Jim Sillars
Jim Sillars
Jim Sillars is a Scottish politician. He is married to current member of the Scottish Parliament, Margo MacDonald.-Early life:...

 had taken in a by-election in 1988
Glasgow Govan by-election, 1988
The Glasgow Govan by-election, in the British House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Govan, Scotland, was held on 10 November 1988. It was caused by the resignation of Bruce Millan as Member of Parliament for the constituency....

. Sillars quit active politics after the General Election with a parting shot at the Scottish electorate as being "ninety minute patriots" referring to their supporting the Scotland national football team
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 only during match time.

The election also saw a small change in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 as the Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 organised and stood candidates in the province for the first time since the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

 had broken with them in 1972 over the Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...

. Although they won no seats, their best result was Laurence Kennedy achieving over 14,000 votes to run second to James Kilfedder
James Kilfedder
Sir James Alexander Kilfedder was a Northern Ireland unionist politician.-Early life:...

 in North Down
North Down (UK Parliament constituency)
North Down is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sylvia Hermon, elected as an Independent in the 2010 General Election. -Boundaries:The county constituency was first created in 1885 from the northern part of Down...

.

Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

, Norman Tebbit
Norman Tebbit
Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment...

, Denis Healey
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC is a British Labour politician, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.-Early life:...

, Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...

, Geoffrey Howe
Geoffrey Howe
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...

, Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...

, David Owen
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...

, Merlyn Rees and then Speaker Bernard Weatherill
Bernard Weatherill
Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, PC, DL, KStJ was a British Conservative Party politician who became Speaker of the House of Commons.-Tailor:...

 were among the prominent retirees.

Polling

Almost every poll leading up to polling day predicted either a hung parliament, with Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 the largest party or a small Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 majority of around 19 to 23. Polls on the last few days before the country voted predicted a very slim Labour majority.

With opinion polls at the end of the campaign showing Labour and the Conservatives neck and neck, the actual election result was a surprise to many in the media and in polling organisations. The apparent failure of the opinion polls to come close to predicting the actual result led to an inquiry by the Market Research Society. Following the election, most opinion polling companies changed their methodology in the belief that a 'Shy Tory Factor
Shy Tory Factor
Shy Tory Factor is a name given by British opinion polling companies to a phenomenon observed in the 1990s, where the share of the vote won by the Conservative Party in elections was substantially higher than the proportion of people in opinion polls who said they would vote for the party.In the...

' affected the polling.

Results

The election turnout of 77.67% was the highest in eighteen years. There was an overall Labour swing of 2.2%, which widened the gap between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. For the Conservatives, despite the reasonable percentage of votes received (only 0.3% down on 1987), the actual Conservative overall majority
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...

 in the House of Commons was reduced to twenty-one seats. This number was reduced progressively during the course of Major's term in office due to defections of MPs to other parties, by-election defeats and for a time in 1994-95 suspension of the Conservative whip for some MPs who voted against the government on its European policy - by 1996, the Conservatives held a single-seat majority and were in minority
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...

 going into 1997 up until the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

. The Conservatives in 1992 received the most total votes ever for any political party in any UK general election, beating the previous largest total vote of 13.98 million achieved by Labour in 1951
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...

 (although this was from a smaller electorate and represented a higher vote share). Nine government ministers lost their seats in 1992, including party chairman Chris Patten
Chris Patten
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC , is the last Governor of British Hong Kong, a former British Conservative politician, and the current chairman of the BBC Trust....

.

On the morning of polling day, The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

newspaper (which had consistently supported the Conservatives throughout the campaign, except in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland 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...

) published a front page with the headline "If Kinnock wins today, will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights."; and featured an overweight woman on Page 3
Page Three girl
Page Three is a tabloid newspaper feature consisting of a topless photograph of a female glamour model, usually printed on the paper's third page...

 under the headline, "Here's How Page 3 Will Look Under Kinnock!" Some, The Sun especially, believed this caused a late swing to the Conservatives sufficient to overcome Labour's poll lead. The Sun′s analysis of the election results was headlined "It's the Sun wot won it
It's The Sun Wot Won It
"It's The Sun Wot Won It" is a famous headline that appeared on the front-page of The Sun on Saturday 11 April 1992, and has since become a political catch phrase in the United Kingdom.-Origin:...

". Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the 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...

 also accepted this theory of Labour's defeat and put considerable effort into securing The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

's support for New Labour, both as Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (UK)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in the United Kingdom. There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords...

 before the 1997 general election and as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 afterwards.

The results continued the Conservatives' decline in Northern England with Labour regaining many seats they had not held since 1979. The Conservatives also began to lose support in the Midlands, but had a slight increase in their vote in Scotland, and had a net gain of one seat in Scotland. Labour and Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

 strengthened in Wales with Conservative support declining there. However, in the South East, South West, London and Eastern England the Conservative vote held up leading to few losses there with many considering Basildon
Basildon (UK Parliament constituency)
Basildon was a parliamentary 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....

 to be indicative of a nouveau riche
Nouveau riche
The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...

 working class element referred to as Essex Man
Essex man
Essex man and Mondeo man are stereotypical figures which were popularised in 1990s England. "Essex man" as a political figure is an example of a type of median voter and was used to help explain the electoral successes of Margaret Thatcher in the previous decade...

 voting strongly Conservative.

For the Liberal Democrats their first election campaign was a reasonable success, the party had worked itself up from a "low base" during its troubled creation and come out relatively unscathed.

It was the second General Election defeat under Leader Neil Kinnock and Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley
Roy Hattersley
Roy 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:...

 and both resigned soon after the election, and were succeeded by John Smith
John Smith (UK politician)
John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994...

 and Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Derby South since 1983, rising to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith, from 18 July 1992 to 12 May 1994, and briefly serving as Leader of the Party following Smith's death...

 respectively.

In retrospect, the election defeat can arguably be viewed paradoxically as a success for Labour in that the party avoided being in government during the financial crisis of Black Wednesday
Black Wednesday
In politics and economics, Black Wednesday refers to the events of 16 September 1992 when the British Conservative government was forced to withdraw the pound sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism after they were unable to keep it above its agreed lower limit...

, which was triggered by sterling
Sterling
Sterling may refer to:* Sterling silver, a grade of silver* Pound sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom- Businesses :* Hotel Sterling, a former hotel in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States* Sterling Airlines...

 joining the ERM
ERM
ERM may refer to: In systems and processes:* European Exchange Rate Mechanism* European Reference Materials* Enterprise relationship management* Enterprise risk management* Entity-relationship model...

 at the artificially high rate of DM
DM
-Academia:* Doctor of Management, an academic management degree* Doctorate in Medicine, an academic medical degree* Doctor of Music, an academic music-performance degree, also known as D.M.A-Science:* Adamsite, a chemical agent used in riot control...

 2.95; a valuation ironically considered too low by Labour's Shadow Chancellor, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

. The ERM crisis fatally damaged the Tories' reputation for economic management and contributed to Labour's landslide win in the United Kingdom general election, 1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

.
|}
All parties with more than 500 votes shown. Plaid Cymru result includes votes for Green/Plaid Cymru Alliance.
Government's new majority 21
Total votes cast 33,614,074
Turnout 77.7%

Incumbents defeated

Conservatives:
  • Michael Knowles
    Michael Knowles (politician)
    Michael Knowles was British Conservative Member of Parliament for Nottingham East from 1983 until he lost the seat at the 1992 general election to Labour's John Heppell....

     - Nottingham East
    Nottingham East (UK Parliament constituency)
    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:...

  • Martin Brandon-Bravo
    Martin Brandon-Bravo
    Martin Maurice Brandon-Bravo OBE is a British Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for Nottingham South from 1983 to 1992 when he was defeated by the Labour Party's Alan Simpson. In Parliament he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Home Secretary, David Waddington...

     - Nottingham South
    Nottingham South (UK Parliament constituency)
    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....

  • Andy Stewart - Sherwood
    Sherwood (UK Parliament constituency)
    Sherwood 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.-Boundaries:...

  • Tim Janman
    Tim Janman
    Timothy Simon Janman is a former Conservative Party politician in England. He was Member of Parliament for Thurrock in Essex from 1987 to 1992, when he lost to the Labour Party candidate.-Early years:...

     - Thurrock
    Thurrock (UK Parliament constituency)
    Thurrock is a parliamentary 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 :...

  • Michael Irvine
    Michael Irvine
    Michael Fraser Irvine is a former British Conservative Party politician and the son of Labour Member of Parliament Sir Arthur Irvine, QC, who was Solicitor General....

     - Ipswich
    Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency)
    Ipswich 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 :...

  • Colin Moynihan
    Colin Moynihan
    Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan PC is a former Olympic coxswain who became a businessman, politician and sports administrator.-Early life:...

     - Lewisham East
  • Bill Shelton - Streatham
    Streatham (UK Parliament constituency)
    Streatham 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:...

  • Patrick Ground
    Patrick Ground
    Reginald Patrick Ground, QC is a British Conservative politician.He served as a councillor on the London Borough of Hammersmith from 1968 to 1971 representing Parson's Green ward, and later chaired the Fulham Society....

     - Feltham and Heston
  • Neil Thorne
    Neil Thorne
    Sir Neil Gordon Thorne is a British Conservative Party politician. He contested the constituency of Ilford South six times from October 1974 to 1997, and was the Member of Parliament for the seat from 1979 to 1992, when he lost by 402 votes to Labour's Mike Gapes.In 1989, Thorne founded the Armed...

     - Ilford South
    Ilford South (UK Parliament constituency)
    Ilford 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.- Boundaries :...

  • Hugo Summerson
    Hugo Summerson
    Hugo Hawksley Fitzthomas Summerson is a British Conservative politician.At the 1987 general election, Summerson was elected Member of Parliament for Walthamstow, gaining 39% of the vote and ousting the Labour incumbent Eric Deakins...

     - Walthamstow
    Walthamstow (UK Parliament constituency)
    Walthamstow 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.- 1885–1918 :...

  • Michael Fallon
    Michael Fallon
    For the American Physician / Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives see Mike FallonMichael Cathel Fallon is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Sevenoaks, and as of September 2010 the deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.-Early life:Michael Fallon...

     - Darlington
    Darlington (UK Parliament constituency)
    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....

  • Chris Butler - Warrington South
    Warrington South (UK Parliament constituency)
    -Elections in the 2000s:In 2006 Paul Kennedy joined the Conservative Party, becoming a Conservative Councillor on Warrington Borough Council in May 2008, representing the Hatton, Stretton & Walton Ward.-Elections in the 1990s:...

  • Cecil Franks
    Cecil Franks
    Cecil Simon Franks is a British solicitor and politician from Manchester. He was the Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness from the 1983 General Election until the 1992 General Election....

     - Barrow and Furness
    Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
    Barrow and Furness is a parliamentary constituency in Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

  • Tony Favell - Stockport
    Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)
    Stockport 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:...

  • Ken Hargreaves
    Ken Hargreaves
    Joseph Kenneth "Ken" Hargreaves MBE was the Conservative Member of Parliament for the Hyndburn constituency in Lancashire from 1983 to 1992...

     - Hyndburn
    Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency)
    Hyndburn 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:...

  • Ken Hind
    Ken Hind
    Kenneth Harvand Hind, known as Ken Hind, CBE, was the Conservative Member of Parliament for West Lancashire from 1983 until 1992, when he was defeated by Labour's Colin Pickthall...

     - Lancashire West
    West Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)
    West Lancashire 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.-Boundaries:...

  • John Lee
    John Lee, Baron Lee of Trafford
    John Robert Louis Lee, Baron Lee of Trafford is a British Liberal Democrat politician.He was Conservative MP for Nelson and Colne from 1979 to 1983, and then for Pendle from 1983 until he lost his seat to the Labour candidate Gordon Prentice in 1992...

     - Pendle
    Pendle (UK Parliament constituency)
    Pendle 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:...

  • David Trippier
    David Trippier
    Sir David Austin Trippier is a British Conservative politician and old boy of Bury Grammar School.Trippier was Member of Parliament for Rossendale from 1979 to 1983, and for Rossendale and Darwen from 1983 until he lost his seat in 1992 by 120 votes to Labour's Janet Anderson...

     - Rossendale and Darwen
  • Lynda Chalker - Wallasey
    Wallasey (UK Parliament constituency)
    Wallasey 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:...

     - Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  • Christopher Chope
    Christopher Chope
    Christopher Robert Chope OBE is a British barrister and Conservative politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Christchurch.-Early life:...

     - Southampton Itchen - Minister for Roads and Traffic
  • Chris Patten
    Chris Patten
    Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC , is the last Governor of British Hong Kong, a former British Conservative politician, and the current chairman of the BBC Trust....

     - Bath
    Bath (UK Parliament constituency)
    Bath is a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, previously of the House of Commons of England. It is an ancient constituency which has been constantly represented in Parliament since boroughs were first summoned to send members in the 13th century...

     - Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
  • Jonathan Sayeed
    Jonathan Sayeed
    Jonathan Sayeed is a British politician who was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2005....

     - Bristol East
    Bristol East (UK Parliament constituency)
    Bristol 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:...

  • Rob Hayward
    Robert Hayward
    Robert Antony Hayward OBE is a British former Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Kingswood from 1983 to 1992, when he lost his seat to Labour's Roger Berry...

     - Kingswood
    Kingswood (UK Parliament constituency)
    Kingswood 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...

  • Gerry Neale
    Gerry Neale
    Sir Gerrard Anthony Neale , known as Gerry Neale, was British Conservative MP for North Cornwall.On his second attempt, he defeated the Liberal Party incumbent John Pardoe in 1979. He held the seat until 1992, when he himself lost to the Liberal Democrat Paul Tyler...

     - Cornwall North
    North Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)
    North Cornwall 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.- Boundaries :...

  • Tony Speller - Devon North
    North Devon (UK Parliament constituency)
    North Devon 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....

  • Lewis Stevens
    Lewis Stevens
    Lewis David Stevens is a British Conservative Party politician.On his second attempt, Stevens was elected Member of Parliament for the marginal seat of Nuneaton in 1983, after the retirement of Labour incumbent Les Huckfield...

     - Nuneaton
    Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)
    Nuneaton 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.- Pre-2010 :...

  • Francis Maude
    Francis Maude
    Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he currently serves as the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, and as a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Horsham...

     - Warwickshire North
    North Warwickshire (UK Parliament constituency)
    -Notes and references:...

     - Financial Secretary to the Treasury
  • Roger King - Birmingham Northfield
  • Anthony Beaumont-Dark
    Anthony Beaumont-Dark
    Sir Anthony Michael Beaumont-Dark was a British politician.He was a Conservative City Councillor for Birmingham from 1956 to 1967 and MP for the constituency of Birmingham Selly Oak from 1979 to 1992...

     - Birmingham Selly Oak
  • David Gilroy Bevan
    David Gilroy Bevan
    Andrew David Gilroy Bevan, commonly known as David Gilroy Bevan, was a British Conservative politician....

     - Birmingham Yardley
  • Maureen Hicks
    Maureen Hicks
    Maureen Patricia Hicks, née Cutler, was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton North East.Hicks was educated at Furzedown College of Education...

     - Wolverhampton North East
  • Keith Raffan
    Keith Raffan
    Keith William Twort Raffan, in Aberdeen, is a former Conservative Member of Parliament and Scottish Liberal Democrat Member of the Scottish Parliament ....

     - Delyn
    Delyn (UK Parliament constituency)
    Delyn is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used in the 1983 General Election. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

  • Ian Grist
    Ian Grist
    Ian Grist was a British Conservative Party politician.Grist studied History at Jesus College, Oxford from 1957 to 1960....

     - Cardiff Central
    Cardiff Central (UK Parliament constituency)
    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....

  • John Maples - Lewisham East - Economic Secretary to the Treasury
  • Gerald Bowden
    Gerald Bowden
    Gerald Francis Bowden , was British Conservative MP for Dulwich from 1983 until 1992. He was succeeded by Tessa Jowell.Gerald Bowden also represented Dulwich on the Greater London Council 1977-81...

     - Dulwich
    Dulwich (UK Parliament constituency)
    Dulwich was a 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....

  • Gerald Howarth
    Gerald Howarth
    James Gerald Douglas Howarth known as Gerald Howarth is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Aldershot since 1997, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992....

     - Cannock and Burntwood
    Cannock and Burntwood (UK Parliament constituency)
    Cannock and Burntwood was a parliamentary constituency in Staffordshire which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.- History :...

     - Parliamentary Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher
    Margaret Thatcher
    Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

  • Conal Gregory
    Conal Gregory
    Conal Robert Gregory was Conservative Party Member of Parliament for York from 1983 to 1992, when he lost the seat to Labour Party candidate Hugh Bayley....

     - York
  • Nicholas Bennett
    Nicholas Bennett
    Nicholas Jerome Bennett is a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Member of Parliament from 1987-92 representing the constituency of Pembrokeshire, and was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Welsh Office from 1990-92.-Career:Bennett was a school teacher from 1976–1985,...

     - Pembrokeshire
    Pembrokeshire (UK Parliament constituency)
    Pembrokeshire was a parliamentary constituency based on the county of Pembrokeshire in Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- History :...

     - Under-Secretary of State for Wales


Labour:
  • Frank Doran - Aberdeen South
    Aberdeen South (UK Parliament constituency)
    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...

  • John Smith
    John Smith (Welsh politician)
    John William Patrick Smith is a Welsh Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for the Vale of Glamorgan from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...

     - Vale of Glamorgan
    Vale of Glamorgan (UK Parliament constituency)
    Vale of Glamorgan is a county constituency in South Wales, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

  • Huw Edwards
    Huw Edwards (politician)
    Huw William Edmund Edwards is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Monmouth over two separate terms....

     - Monmouth
    Monmouth (UK Parliament constituency)
    Monmouth is a county 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 of election...

  • Ashok Kumar - Langbaurgh
    Langbaurgh (UK Parliament constituency)
    Langbaurgh was a parliamentary constituency in the Langbaurgh area of North East England to the east of Middlesbrough. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system, and existed from 1983 to...

  • Sylvia Heal
    Sylvia Heal
    Sylvia Lloyd Heal is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Halesowen and Rowley Regis from 1997 to 2010, having previously been the MP for Mid Staffordshire from 1990 to 1992...

     - Mid Staffordshire
    Mid Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
    Mid Staffordshire was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997.It covered a swathe of territory across the centre of Staffordshire, stretching from Lichfield and Rugeley in the south to Stone in the north....



Liberal Democrats:
  • Michael Carr
    Michael Carr (Lib Dem politician)
    Michael Carr is a British teacher, lecturer and politician for the Liberal Democrats. Originally a teacher, Carr became active in politics as a Conservative councillor before joining the Social Democratic Party...

     - Ribble Valley
    Ribble Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
    Ribble Valley 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....

  • Ronnie Fearn
    Ronnie Fearn, Baron Fearn
    Ronald Cyril Fearn, Baron Fearn OBE is a British politician and Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.He was educated at King George V Grammar School, Southport and had a career in banking. He is also a Sefton Metropolitan Borough councilor and a former Merseyside county councilor...

     - Southport
    Southport (UK Parliament constituency)
    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:...

  • David Bellotti
    David Bellotti
    David Frank Bellotti is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was Member of Parliament for the Eastbourne constituency from 1990 to 1992....

     - Eastbourne
    Eastbourne (UK Parliament constituency)
    Eastbourne is a parliamentary 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. Traditionally a safe Conservative seat, Eastbourne became very marginal following the 1990...

  • Nicol Stephen
    Nicol Stephen
    Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen of Lower Deeside in the City of Aberdeen is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen South, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008...

     - Kincardine and Deeside
    Kincardine and Deeside (UK Parliament constituency)
    Kincardine and Deeside was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997. It was mainly replaced by West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, apart from the parts of the seat within the borders of Aberdeen City Council, which joined...

  • Richard Livsey
    Richard Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth
    Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth CBE was the son of Arthur Norman Livsey and Lilian Maisie . His father was a seacaptain who died in Iraq when Richard was just three years old. He was therefore brought up in a single parent household by his mother, Lilian, who was a local...

     - Brecon and Radnorshire
    Brecon and Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)
    Brecon and Radnorshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1918, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election; until 1997 its name was simply Brecon and Radnor.The Brecon and Radnorshire Welsh...

  • Geraint Howells
    Geraint Howells
    Geraint Wyn Howells, Baron Geraint was a leading Welsh Liberal Democrat politician.Howells was born in Ponterwyd in Cardiganshire. He was the son of David John and Mary Blodwen Howells, both farmers.-Education:...

     - Ceredigion and Pembroke North


Independent SDP:
  • Rosie Barnes
    Rosie Barnes
    Rosemary Susan Barnes OBE, née Allen, usually known as Rosie Barnes, is an English charity organiser and former politician...

     - Greenwich
    Greenwich (UK Parliament constituency)
    Greenwich was a parliamentary constituency in South-East London, which returned Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1997 by the first past the post system.-History:...

  • John Cartwright
    John Cartwright (UK politician)
    John Cameron Cartwright is a former politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Labour and then an SDP Member of Parliament representing Woolwich East then Woolwich from the October 1974 general election to the 1992 election....

     - Woolwich
    Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency)
    Woolwich was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1918 and from 1983 to 1997...



SNP:
  • Dick Douglas
    Dick Douglas
    Richard Giles "Dick" Douglas is a former Scottish politician, having been a member of the British House of Commons firstly as a Labour Co-operative candidate, then latterly as a Scottish National Party member....

     (formerly Labour) - Dunfermline West
    Dunfermline West (UK Parliament constituency)
    Dunfermline West was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament using the first-past-the-post voting system....



Sinn Féin:
  • Gerry Adams
    Gerry Adams
    Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...

     - Belfast West
    Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)
    Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:The seat was restored in 1922 when as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...



Independent Labour:
  • Dave Nellist
    Dave Nellist
    David John Nellist is a British Trotskyist activist and former Labour Member of Parliament for the now abolished constituency of Coventry South East...

     (formerly Labour) - Coventry South East
    Coventry South East (UK Parliament constituency)
    Coventry South East was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Coventry. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

  • John Hughes
    John Hughes (English politician)
    John Hughes was Labour Member of Parliament for Coventry North East in the United Kingdom from 1987 to 1992....

     (formerly Labour) - Coventry North East


Independent:
  • Terry Fields
    Terry Fields
    Terence Fields was a British trades unionist and Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Broadgreen. He was a supporter of the Militant tendency.-Early life:...

     (formerly Labour) - Liverpool Broadgreen
    Liverpool Broadgreen (UK Parliament constituency)
    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....

  • Syd Bidwell
    Syd Bidwell
    Sydney James Bidwell was a British Labour politician.Bidwell was a railway worker on the Great Western Railway and became a tutor and organiser for the National Council of Labour Colleges. He went on to become the London Regional Education Officer for the TUC...

     (formerly Labour) - Ealing Southall

Retiring incumbents

  • Peter Rost
  • Christopher Hawkins
    Christopher Hawkins
    Christopher James Hawkins was a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament for High Peak constituency in Derbyshire from 1983 until he stood down in 1992. Born in Saffron Walden, his successor was Charles Hendry.- External links:...

  • John Farr
  • Michael Latham
    Michael Latham
    Sir Michael Anthony Latham was British Conservative Member of Parliament for Melton from February 1974 to 1983, and for Rutland and Melton from 1983 until he stood down in 1992....

  • Frank Haynes
    Frank Haynes
    David Francis Haynes, usually known as Frank Haynes was a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, he served at the Member of Parliament for Ashfield from 1979-92....

  • Robert Rhodes James
    Robert Rhodes James
    Sir Robert Vidal Rhodes James was a British historian and Conservative Member of Parliament. He was born in India and began his education in private schools there, returning to England to attend Sedbergh School and then Worcester College, Oxford.He wrote his first book, a much-acclaimed biography...

  • Robert McCrindle
    Robert McCrindle
    Sir Robert Arthur McCrindle, , known as Robert McCrindle, was a Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Billericay from 1970–74 and Brentwood and Ongar from 1974-92 .Born in Glasgow, McCrindle was educated at Allan Glen's School...

  • Bernard Braine
    Bernard Braine
    Bernard Richard Braine, Baron Braine of Wheatley, PC was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was educated at Hendon County Grammar School, and served with the North Staffordshire Regiment in the Second World War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel...

  • Cecil Parkinson
    Cecil Parkinson
    Cecil Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC , is a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet Minister.-Early life:...

    , former Conservative Cabinet minister
  • Eldon Griffiths
    Eldon Griffiths
    Sir Eldon Wylie Griffiths is a former British Conservative politician and journalist.Griffiths was educated at Ashton Grammar School, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Yale University. He worked in the Conservative Research Department and became a journalist and farmer...

  • Philip Goodhart
    Philip Goodhart
    Sir Philip Carter Goodhart is a British Conservative politician, the son of Arthur Lehman Goodhart.Goodhart contested Consett in 1950 whilst still a student at Trinity College, Cambridge....

  • Barney Hayhoe
    Barney Hayhoe
    Bernard "Barney" John Hayhoe, Baron Hayhoe PC is a British Conservative politician.He was the Member of Parliament for Heston and Isleworth from 1970 until February 1974, then for Brentford and Isleworth from February 1974 until he retired at the 1992 general election...

    , former Conservative minister and Member of Parliament for Brentford and Isleworth, 1974-1992.
  • John Moore
    John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh
    John Edward Michael Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh PC is a British politician who was Member of Parliament for Croydon Central from February 1974 until 1992. During the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher he enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of government which culminated in him serving as...

  • William Clark
    William Clark, Baron Clark of Kempston
    William Gibson Haig Clark, Baron Clark of Kempston, PC was a British Conservative Party politician.Clark was educated at Battersea Polytechnic, qualifying in accountancy in 1941. From 1941 until 1946, he served in World War II in Britain and India in the Royal Ordnance Corps, gaining the rank of...

  • Syd Bidwell
    Syd Bidwell
    Sydney James Bidwell was a British Labour politician.Bidwell was a railway worker on the Great Western Railway and became a tutor and organiser for the National Council of Labour Colleges. He went on to become the London Regional Education Officer for the TUC...

  • Ivor Stanbrook
    Ivor Stanbrook
    Ivor Robert Stanbrook was a British Conservative party politician and barrister. He represented Orpington as its Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1992.-Biography and early life:...

  • Margaret Thatcher
    Margaret Thatcher
    Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

    , former Conservative Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Finchley
    Finchley (UK Parliament constituency)
    Finchley 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; its best-known MP was Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990...

    , 1958-1992
  • Michael Foot
    Michael Foot
    Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...

    , former Leader of the Labour Party
  • Denis Healey
    Denis Healey
    Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC is a British Labour politician, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.-Early life:...

    , former Labour Cabinet minister
  • David Owen
    David Owen
    David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...

    , former leader of the SDP, former Foreign Secretary
  • Merlyn Rees
  • Neil Macfarlane
    Neil Macfarlane (politician)
    David Neil Macfarlane, known as Neil Macfarlane, is a British Conservative Party politician.Macfarlane was elected Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam in February 1974, regaining the seat from the Liberal Graham Tope who had won the seat in a by-election two years earlier...

  • Ted Leadbitter
  • Alan Amos
    Alan Amos
    Alan Thomas Amos is a British Labour politician, and former Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Hexham in Northumberland between 1987 and 1992.-Early life:...

  • Sir Peter Morrison
    Peter Morrison
    Sir Peter Hugh Morrison PC was a British Conservative politician, MP for Chester from 1974 to 1992, and Parliamentary Private Secretary to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.-Education:...

    , former Conservative Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Private Secretary
    Parliamentary Private Secretary
    A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

     to Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher
  • Peter Walker
    Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester
    Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, MBE, PC , was British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet as the Environment Secretary , Trade and Industry Secretary , Agriculture Minister , Energy Secretary and Welsh Secretary...

    , former Conservative Member of Parliament and Cabinet minister
  • Mike Woodcock
    Mike Woodcock
    Michael Woodcock was a British Conservative Member of Parliament for Ellesmere Port and Neston. He was first elected at the 1983 general election, and was re-elected at the 1987 general election. He stood down at the 1992 general election, when his seat was won by Labour's Andrew Miller.-...

  • Cyril Smith
    Cyril Smith
    Sir Cyril Smith, MBE, was a British politician who served as Liberal and Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the constituency of Rochdale from 1972 until his retirement in 1992.-Early life:...

  • Peter Blaker
  • Michael McNair-Wilson
    Michael McNair-Wilson
    Sir Robert Michael Conal McNair-Wilson was a Conservative politician and a Member of Parliament .In 1969 he stood as the Conservative candidate in the Walthamstow East by-election, defeating the Labour Party...

  • Timothy Raison
    Timothy Raison
    Sir Timothy Hugh Francis Raison , was a British Conservative politician who began his career as a journalist, first working on Picture Post , then New Scientist...

  • Sir Ian Gilmour, Bt.
    Baronet
    A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

    , former Conservative Member of Parliament and minister
  • Julian Amery, former Conservative Member of Parliament and minister
  • Kenneth Warren
  • David Price
    David Price (British politician)
    Sir David Ernest Campbell Price is a British Conservative Party politician.Price was educated at Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge and Yale University. He was President of the Cambridge Union in 1948. He served with the Scots Guards during World War II, a staff officer in Trieste...

  • Ian Lloyd
    Ian Lloyd (UK politician)
    Sir Ian Stewart Lloyd was a British Conservative Party politician. Born in South Africa to English parents, he worked as a civil servant in South Africa before moving permanently to the UK. He served as a backbench Member of Parliament for constituencies near Portsmouth nearly 30 years, from...

  • John Browne
    John Browne (UK politician)
    John Ernest Douglas Delavalette Browne is a former British politician who is currently acting as a political and financial consultant in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA....

  • Geoffrey Howe
    Geoffrey Howe
    Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...

    , former Conservative Cabinet minister; Chancellor of the Exchequer
    Chancellor of the Exchequer
    The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

     and Foreign Secretary
    Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...

  • Sir Charles Irving
    Charles Irving
    Sir Charles Graham Irving was a British Conservative Member of Parliament for Cheltenham.Irving's political career started in 1947 when he was elected to Cheltenham Borough Council, the following year he was elected to Gloucestershire County Council. He was Mayor of Cheltenham 1958-1960 and again...

    , former Conservative Member of Parliament for Cheltenham
  • Robert Boscawen
    Robert Boscawen
    Robert Thomas Boscawen is a retired British Conservative politician.-Background and education:The son of Evelyn Hugh John Boscawen, eighth Viscount Falmouth, of Tregothnan, near Truro, and a member of a very old Cornish family, Boscawen was educated at West Downs School and Eton College...

  • Charles Morrison
    Charles Morrison
    Sir Charles Andrew Morrison was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, MP for Devizes constituency from 1964 until 1992.-Background:...

  • Hal Miller
    Hal Miller
    Sir Hilary Duppa "Hal" Miller , known as Hal Miller, is a British Conservative Party politician.Educated at Eton College, Miller graduated from Merton College, Oxford in 1956 and the University of London in 1962...

  • Jack Ashley
  • John Hughes
    John Hughes (English politician)
    John Hughes was Labour Member of Parliament for Coventry North East in the United Kingdom from 1987 to 1992....

  • Michael Welsh
  • Stan Crowther
    Stanley Crowther
    Joseph Stanley Crowther, known as Stan Crowther, was British Labour Member of Parliament for Rotherham from the 1976 by-election until his retirement in 1992. His successor was Jimmy Boyce.-References:...

  • Alex Eadie
    Alex Eadie
    Alexander Eadie , known as Alex Eadie, is a British Labour politician.Eadie was educated at Buckhaven Senior Secondary School, Fife, and was a miners' agent...

  • Bernard Weatherill
    Bernard Weatherill
    Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, PC, DL, KStJ was a British Conservative Party politician who became Speaker of the House of Commons.-Tailor:...

    , former Speaker of the House of Commons
    Speaker of the House of Commons
    Speaker of the House of Commons can refer to:*Speaker of the House of Commons *Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada*Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons...

     later ennobled
  • Paul Dean
  • Norman Tebbit
    Norman Tebbit
    Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment...

    , former Conservative Cabinet minister
  • Julian Ridsdale
    Julian Ridsdale
    Sir Julian Errington Ridsdale, CBE was a British National Liberal and later Conservative Party politician and long-serving Member of Parliament for the constituency of Harwich in Essex...

  • Antony Buck
  • John Wakeham
    John Wakeham
    John Wakeham, Baron Wakeham, PC, DL is a businessman and British Conservative Party politician and the current Chancellor of Brunel University.He was a director of Enron from 1994 until its bankruptcy in 2001....

    , former Conservative Cabinet minister
  • Ian Stewart
  • Ted Garrett
    Ted Garrett
    William Edward Garrett, known as Ted Garrett, was a British Labour Party politician.Garrett was educated at the London School of Economics and was an engineer and maintenance fitter...

  • Alan Glyn
    Alan Glyn
    Sir Alan Jack Glyn ERD was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament. He was educated at Westminster School and Caius College, Cambridge, where he read medicine. He proceeded to St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, qualifying as a medical practitioner...

  • Richard Luce, former Conservative Member of Parliament and minister - later served as Lord Chamberlain in the Royal Household
  • Robin Maxwell-Hyslop
    Robin Maxwell-Hyslop
    Sir Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop was a British Conservative Party politician.Maxwell-Hyslop was educated at Stowe School and Christ Church, Oxford. He worked for the aero engine division of Rolls-Royce from 1954 to 1960....

  • Nicholas Ridley
    Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale
    Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, PC was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Personal life:...

    , former Conservative minister
  • John Stokes
    John Heydon Stokes
    Sir John Heydon Romaine Stokes, KBE , was a British politician and a Conservative Party Member of Parliament.-Education and Early Career:...

  • Michael Shaw
  • Sir Anthony Meyer
    Anthony Meyer
    Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd Baronet was a British soldier, diplomat, and Conservative and later Liberal Democrat politician, best known for standing against Margaret Thatcher for the party leadership in 1989...

    , Bt., competitor for the 1989 Conservative Party leadership contest against the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
  • Dafydd Elis Thomas
  • George Younger, former Conservative Member of Parliament and Cabinet minister; Defence Secretary
    Secretary of State for Defence
    The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...

  • Alan Clark
    Alan Clark
    Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British Conservative MP and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade, and Defence, and became a privy counsellor in 1991...

    , former Conservative Member of Parliament and junior Thatcherite minister

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