1992 United Kingdom general election

none May 2014 July 2020 1992 United Kingdom general election United Kingdom parliamentary no 1987 United Kingdom general election 1987 List of MPs elected in the 1987 United Kingdom general election 9 April 1992 List of MPs elected in the 1992 United Kingdom general election 1997 United Kingdom general election 1997 All 651 seats in the House of Commons 326 Opinion polling for the 1992 United Kingdom general election 33,614,07477.7% (2.4 pp) John Major Feb. 1993.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 John Major Conservative Party (UK) 27 November 1990 Huntingdon 376 seats, 42.2% 336 40 14,094,116 41.9% 0.3 pp Official portrait of Neil Kinnock, Member of the EC (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Neil Kinnock 2 October 1983 Labour Party (UK) Islwyn 229 seats, 30.8% 271 42 11,557,062 34.4% 3.6 pp ASHDOWN Paddy.jpg 127 120 160 0 0 Paddy Ashdown 16 July 1988 Liberal Democrats (UK) Yeovil 22 seats, 22.6%As SDP–Liberal Alliance; two of these refused to join the Liberal Democrats and remained in the continuing SDP 20 2 6,027,038 17.8% 4.8 pp UK General Election, 1992.svg 200px Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results Prime Minister Prime Minister after election John Major Conservative Party (UK) John Major Conservative Party (UK) House of Commons 1992 Election.svg Composition of the House of Commons after the election 360px A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 9 April 1992, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major won a fourth consecutive election victory, with a majority of 21. This would be the last time that the Conservatives would win an overall majority at a general election until 2015 and the last general election to be held on a day which did not coincide with any local elections until 2017. The result took many by surprise, as opinion polling leading up to the election day had shown a narrow but consistent lead for the Labour Party under leader Neil Kinnock during a period of recession and declining living standards.https://news.sky.com/story/neil-kinnock-labour-leader-who-lost-unlosable-election-predicts-starmer-will-end-up-in-no-10-13074719 Neil Kinnock: Labour leader who lost 'unlosable' election predicts Starmer will end up in No 10 Sky News Faye Brown 19 February 2024 5 July 2024 The polls predicted either a hung parliament or a Labour majority.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393317.stm 1992: Tories win again against odds BBC News 5 April 2005 22 October 2013 22 April 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090422045259/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393317.stm live The Conservatives received what remains the largest number of votes at a UK general election, breaking the previous record set by Labour in 1951.Election Statistics: UK 1918–2017 http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7529 12 23 April 2017 House of Commons Library 14 August 2017 14 August 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170814094935/http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7529 live Major had won the Conservative Party leadership election in November 1990 following the resignation of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. During his first term leading up to the 1992 election he oversaw the British involvement in the Gulf War, introduced legislation to replace the unpopular Community Charge with Council Tax, and signed the Maastricht Treaty. Britain was sliding into its second recession in a decade at the time of Major's appointment. Thatcher left the House of Commons at this election, as did former Labour leader Michael Foot, former SDP leader David Owen, three former Chancellors of the Exchequer, Denis Healey, Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson, and former Home Secretary Merlyn Rees. Francis Maude, Norman Tebbit, Rosie Barnes, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Speaker of the House of Commons Bernard Weatherill also left at this election, though Maude and Adams returned at the next election. Future Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith was elected to Parliament for the first time in this election. 2026, the 1992–97 Parliament is the last in which every MP elected to the House of Commons took their seat (as Sinn Féin's MPs are abstentionist). Adams' defeat meant no Sinn Féin candidates were elected for the only time since 1983. Overview The Conservatives had been re-elected in a landslide at the 1987 general election under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who had led the party back into power in 1979 and won a landslide majority in 1983, but her popularity and that of her government sharply declined due to internal divisions in the party and the unpopular Community Charge (also known as the 'poll tax'), as well as the fact that Britain was sliding into recession in the run-up to her resignation in November 1990.June 2025 Labour began to lead the Conservatives in the opinion polls by as much as 20 percentage points. Thatcher resigned following the party leadership ballot in November 1990, initiated by Michael Heseltine, and was replaced by her Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major. This was well received by the public; Labour lost some momentum as it reduced the impact of their calls for "Time for a Change".http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8280050.stm BBC News Poll tracker: Interactive guide to the opinion polls 29 September 2009 26 February 2014 29 July 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170729111322/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8280050.stm live On 16 January 1991, Operation Desert Storm began the Gulf War, the Major ministry's first foreign affairs crisis. The quick and successful outcome on the conflict led to a boost in opinion polls for Major, in spite of the deepening recession and rising unemployment. Another boost in the polls for Major was his announcement that the unpopular community charge (poll tax) would be replaced with the Council Tax. The Labour opposition made repeated calls for a general election to be held during 1991, but Major resisted these calls.June 2025 There is some evidence that the poll tax had a lasting side-effect of people not registering themselves on the electoral register to evade collection attempts, possibly because of the false impression that the words "poll tax" created. This may have affected the results of the 1992 general election."Poll tax", in Encyclopedia of Britain by Bamber Gascoigne, HistoryWorld.net. As 1992 dawned, the recession had still not ended, unemployment now topped 2.5 million and the election loomed, with most opinion polls suggested that the election would produce a hung parliament or a narrow Labour majority, although the lead in the polls had shifted between Tory and Labour on several occasions since November 1990.June 2025 Parliament was due to expire no later than 16 June 1992. Major called the election on 11 March, as was widely expected, the day after Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont had delivered the Budget. The Conservatives maintained strong support in many newspapers, especially The Sun, which ran a series of anti-Labour articles that culminated on election day with a front-page headline which urged "the last person to leave Britain" to "turn out the lights" if Labour won the election.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3654446.stm Forty years of The Sun BBC News Torin Douglas 14 September 2004 22 October 2013 12 September 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070912042605/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3654446.stm live Campaign The 50th Parliament of the United Kingdom sat for the last time on Monday 16 March, being dissolved on the same day.https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1992/mar/16/charities-bill-hl Charities Bill [H.L.] Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) 30 July 2017 31 July 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170731025133/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1992/mar/16/charities-bill-hl 16 March 1992 live The 1992 election was fought on the same boundaries as the 1983 and 1987 elections, with one exception- the Milton Keynes constituency was split into North East Milton Keynes and Milton Keynes South West. This unusual case of a specific constituency being changed in between periodic boundary reviews, as opposed to all of them at once, was done because the new town's electorate had reached over 129,000 people by 1992, significantly more than twice the average electorate at the time.http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/i14.htm UK General Election results: April 1992 https://web.archive.org/web/20110811135833/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/i14.htm 11 August 2011 live Under the leadership of Neil Kinnock, the Labour Party had undergone further developments and alterations since its 1987 general election defeat. Labour entered the campaign confident, with most opinion polls showing a slight Labour lead that if maintained suggested a hung parliament, 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 during public meetings. Immigration was also an issue, with Home Secretary Kenneth Baker making a controversial speech stating that, under Labour, the floodgates would be opened for immigrants from developing countries. Some speculated that this was a bid by the Conservatives to shore up its support amongst its white working-class supporters.December 2013 The Conservatives also attacked The Labour Party over the issue of taxation, producing a memorable poster entitled "Labour's Double-Whammy", showing a boxer wearing gloves marked "tax rises" and "inflation". An early setback for Labour came in the form of the "War of Jennifer's Ear" controversy, which questioned the truthfulness of a Labour party election broadcast concerning National Health Service (NHS) waiting lists. The Conservative's political broadcast, The Journey, featured Major being driven around his childhood home of Brixton while being interviewed. It was directed by John Schlesinger.Jones George https://newspapers.com/image/751474817/ Roots: a Major movie for the Brixton boy 18 March 1992 The Daily Telegraph 24 June 2026 4 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", an enthusiastic American-style political convention at the Sheffield Arena, where Neil Kinnock famously cried out "We're all right!" three times.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TOgB3Smvro UK General Election 1992 – Neil "We're Alright" Kinnock at the 1992 Sheffield Rally 30 October 2009 YouTube 15 May 2019 However, some analysts and participants in the campaign believed it actually had little effect, with the event only receiving widespread attention after the election.Westlake Martin 2001 Kinnock: The Biography 3rd Little, Brown Book Group London 0-3168-4871-9 560–564 This was the first general election for the newly formed Liberal Democrats, a party formed by the formal merger of the SDP–Liberal Alliance following the 1987 general election. 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 to win votes and seats. They focused on education throughout the campaign, as well as a promise on reforming the voting system.http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1992_person.stm 1992 Personalities BBC News 22 October 2013 23 October 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131023063520/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1992_person.stm live The weather was largely dull for most of the campaign, as would be typical in early-spring Britain, but the warm and sunny conditions on 9 April may have been a factor in the high turnout.Monthly Weather Report: March 1992 https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/mohippo/pdf/o/4/mar1992.pdf Met Office 3 June 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20171113123806/https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/mohippo/pdf/o/4/mar1992.pdf 13 November 2017 deadMonthly Weather Report: April 1992 https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/mohippo/pdf/o/7/apr1992.pdf Met Office 3 June 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20171113123813/https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/mohippo/pdf/o/7/apr1992.pdf 13 November 2017 deadArchived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuvzOd3EYaE BBC1 Election Day 1992 coverage ratpackmanreturns 28 December 2007 YouTube Minor parties In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) hoped for a major electoral breakthrough in 1992 and had run a hard independence campaign with "Free by '93" as their slogan, urging voters to back a party which would deliver Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. Although the party increased its total vote by 50% compared to 1987, they only held onto the three seats they had won at the previous election. They lost Glasgow Govan, which their deputy leader Jim Sillars had taken from Labour in a by-election in 1988. Sillars quit active politics after the general election with a parting shot at the Scottish electorate as being "ninety-minute patriots", referring to their support of the Scotland football team only during match time.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1428647/Swinney-should-stop-his-sneering-at-'second-best'.html Swinney should stop his sneering at 'second best' The Daily Telegraph London Tom Peterkin 28 April 2003 30 July 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20081204085549/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1428647/Swinney-should-stop-his-sneering-at-%27second-best%27.html 4 December 2008 The election also saw a small change in Northern Ireland: the Conservatives organised and stood candidates in the constituent country for the first time since the Ulster Unionist Party had broken with them in 1972 over the Sunningdale Agreement. Although they won no seats, their best result was Laurence Kennedy achieving over 14,000 votes to run second to James Kilfedder in North Down. Retirees Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher stepped down at the general election, as did former cabinet minister Norman Tebbit, Labour veteran Denis Healey, former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson, Geoffrey Howe, former Labour leader Michael Foot, former SDP leader David Owen, Merlyn Rees, then-Speaker Bernard Weatherill, former Conservative Party chairman Cecil Parkinson, John Wakeham, Nicholas Ridley and Peter Morrison. Alan Clark also retired from Parliament, though he returned in 1997 as MP for Kensington and Chelsea, only to die two years later. Endorsements The following newspapers endorsed political parties running in the election in the following ways:'Newspaper support in UK general elections https://web.archive.org/web/20130801141949/http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/04/general-election-newspaper-support 1 August 2013 ' (2010) on The Guardian Newspaper Party/ies endorsed Circulation (in millions) The Sun Conservative Party 3.6 Daily Mirror Labour Party 2.9 Daily Mail Conservative Party 1.7 Daily Express Conservative Party 1.5 The Daily Telegraph Conservative Party 1.0 The Guardian Labour Party 0.4 Liberal Democrats The Independent None 0.4 The Times Conservative Party 0.4 In a move later described in The Observer as appalling to its City readership,Robinson James https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/mar/30/financialtimes.pressandpublishing FT's ebullient leader revels in the power of newsprint 30 March 2008 The Observer 28 March 2020 28 March 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200328170930/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/mar/30/financialtimes.pressandpublishing live the Financial Times endorsed the Labour Party in this general election. Opinion polling Opinion polling for the 1992 United Kingdom general election 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 thumb|center|900x900px|Opinion polling for the 1992 UK General Election, with a 7-poll moving average.18em #0087DC solid 5px Conservative Labour Party (UK) solid 5px Labour #FAA61A solid 5px Liberal Democrats Almost every poll leading up to polling day predicted either a hung parliament with Labour the largest party, or a small Labour majority of around 19 to 23. Polls on the last few days before the country voted predicted a very slim Labour majority.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/exclusive-how-did-labour-lose-in-92-the-most-authoritative-study-of-the-last-general-election-is-published-tomorrow-here-its-authors-present-their-conclusions-and-explode-the-myths-about-the-greatest-upset-since-1945-1439286.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/exclusive-how-did-labour-lose-in-92-the-most-authoritative-study-of-the-last-general-election-is-published-tomorrow-here-its-authors-present-their-conclusions-and-explode-the-myths-about-the-greatest-upset-since-1945-1439286.html 1 May 2022 subscription live How did Labour lose in '92?: The most authoritative study of the last general election is published tomorrow. Here, its authors present their conclusions and explode the myths about the greatest upset since 1945 The Independent 29 May 1994 24 March 2016 Of the 50 opinion polls published during the election campaign period, 38 suggested Labour had a narrow but clear lead.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31504146 How political polling shapes public opinion Cowling David 18 February 2015 BBC News 15 May 2019 20 April 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200420230626/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31504146 live After the polls closed, the BBC and ITV exit polls still predicted that there would be a hung parliament and "that the Conservatives would only just get more seats than Labour".Firth, D., Exit polling explained https://web.archive.org/web/20150509034439/http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/statistics/staff/academic-research/firth/exit-poll-explainer 9 May 2015 , University of Warwick, Statistics Department. 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, and would eventually result in the creation of the British Polling Council a decade later. Following the election, most opinion polling companies changed their methodology in the belief that a 'Shy Tory factor' affected the polling. Results Results of the 1992 United Kingdom general electionthumb|Labour Leader Neil Kinnock conceding defeat thumb|400px|Results map The election turnout of 77.67% was the highest in 18 years. There was an overall Labour swing of 2.2%, which widened the gap between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Although the percentage of Conservative votes was only 0.3% down on 1987, and Labour's was only up 3.6%, the Conservative overall majority in the House of Commons was reduced from 102 to 21, largely because the fall in the Liberal Democrat vote relative to the previous SDP–Liberal Alliance caused the Conservatives to lose several seats that they had won in 1983 and 1987 due to the opposition vote being split between Labour and Alliance candidates. The government's majority 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 the suspension of the Conservative whip for some MPs who voted against the government on its European policyby 1996, the Conservative majority had been reduced to just 1 seat, and they were in a minority going into 1997 until the 1997 general election. The Conservatives in 1992 received 14,093,007 votes, the highest total of votes for any political party in any UK general election, beating the previous largest total vote of 13.98 million achieved by Labour in 1951 (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. The Suns analysis of the election results was headlined "It's The Sun Wot Won It", though in his testimony to the April 2012 Leveson Inquiry, Rupert Murdoch claimed that the "infamous" headline was "both tasteless and wrong".https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/apr/25/rupert-murdoch-sun-wot-won-it-tasteless?newsfeed=true Rupert Murdoch: 'Sun wot won it' headline was tasteless and wrong Dowell Ben The Guardian Guardian Newspapers 25 April 2012 27 April 2012 London 23 October 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131023104009/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/apr/25/rupert-murdoch-sun-wot-won-it-tasteless?newsfeed=true live Tony Blair also accepted this theory of Labour's defeat and put considerable effort into securing The Suns support for New Labour, both as Leader of the Opposition before the 1997 general election and as Prime Minister afterwards. Steve Richards notes that one theory for Labour's defeat relates to Kinnock seeming triumphalist, "overconfident and cocky" at a major Labour Party election rally in Sheffield. At the time of the event polls suggested Labour was well ahead of the Conservatives. Richards argues the rally "acquired a mythological status as fatal event" after Labour's defeat, but considers this theory to be "a red herring". He notes that prior to the result of the election becoming known, "there was no suggestion that Kinnock had made a terrible blunder" at the event. Indeed, Richards notes that the BBC's political editor John Cole had indicated he had been impressed in his live reporting of the rally which Cole compared with similar events held by President Kennedy. Richards concluded that the party would have lost the election even if there had been no Sheffield Rally.Richards Steve The Prime Ministers We Never Had; Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn 2021 Atlantic Books London 978-1-83895-241-9 157–158 This election 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 achieved a slight increase in their vote in Scotland, where they had a net gain of one seat. Labour and Plaid Cymru strengthened in Wales, with Conservative support declining. However, in the South East, South West, London and Eastern England the Conservative vote held up, leading to few losses there: many considered Basildon to be indicative of a nouveau riche working-class element, referred to as Essex man, voting strongly Conservative. This election is the most recent in which the Conservatives won more seats than Labour in Greater London, at 48 to 35; in the 1997 election, the Conservatives would win only 11.Rallings Colin Colin Rallings Michael Thrasher Michael Thrasher General Election Results, 1 May 1997 https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m15.pdf UK Parliament Information Office 7 July 2020 4 December 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161204080932/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m15.pdf live 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.http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1992_results.stm 1992 Results BBC News 22 October 2013 23 October 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131023062301/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1992_results.stm live It was Labour's second general election defeat under leader Neil Kinnock and deputy leader Roy Hattersley. Both resigned soon after the election, and were succeeded by John Smith and Margaret Beckett respectively. Sitting MPs Dave Nellist, Terry Fields, Ron Brown, John Hughes and Syd Bidwell, who had been expelled or deselected by the Labour Party and stood as independents, were all defeated, although in Nellist's case only very narrowly. Tommy Sheridan, fighting the election from prison, polled 19% in Glasgow Pollok. Summary of seats returned + centre|420px PartyBritish Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher 53 Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006 Leader MPs Aggregate votes Of total Of total Conservative and Unionist Party John Major 336 336 651 1 yes Conservative Party (UK) 14,093,007 41.9% 41.9 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party Neil Kinnock 271Includes 14 Co-operative Party MP, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 271 651 1 yes Labour Party (UK) 11,560,484 34.4% 34.4 Labour Party (UK) Liberal Democrats Paddy Ashdown 20 20 651 1 yes Liberal Democrats (UK) 5,999,606 17.8% 17.8 Liberal Democrats (UK) Ulster Unionist Party James Molyneaux 9 9 651 1 yes Ulster Unionist Party 271,049 0.8% 0.8 Ulster Unionist Party Social Democratic and Labour Party John Hume 4 4 651 1 yes Social Democratic and Labour Party 184,445 0.5% 0.5 Social Democratic and Labour Party Plaid Cymru Dafydd Wigley 4 4 651 1 yes Plaid Cymru 154,947 0.5% 0.5 Plaid Cymru Scottish National Party Alex Salmond 3 3 651 1 yes Scottish National Party 629,564 1.9% 1.9 Scottish National Party Democratic Unionist Party Ian Paisley 3 3 651 1 yes Democratic Unionist Party 103,039 0.3% 0.3 Democratic Unionist Party Ulster Popular Unionist Party James Kilfedder 1 1 651 1 yes Ulster Popular Unionist Party 19,305 0.1% 0.1 Ulster Popular Unionist Party Full results centre|500x500px : UK general election 1992General Election Results 9 April 1992 http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m13.pdf parliament.uk 14 June 2011 13 October 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101013125923/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m13.pdf live Conservative Party (UK) John Major 645 336 3 44 −41 14,094,116 41.9 51.69 −0.3 yes Labour Party (UK) Neil Kinnock 634 Includes 27 Co-operative Party candidates, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 271 Includes 14 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 43 1 +42 Includes +5 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 11,557,062 Includes 495,702 for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 34.4 Includes 1.5% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 41.62 Includes 2.2% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance +3.6 Includes +0.5% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance Liberal Democrats (UK) Paddy Ashdown 632 20 4 6 −2 6,027,038 17.8 3.07 −4.8 Scottish National Party Alex Salmond 72 3 629,552 1.9 0.46 +0.6 Ulster Unionist Party James Molyneaux 13 9 270,749 0.8 1.38 0.0 Social Democratic and Labour Party John Hume 13 4 1 +1 184,445 0.5 0.61 0.0 Green Party of England and Wales Jean Lambert and Richard Lawson 253 0 170,047 0.5 0.0 +0.2 Plaid Cymru Dafydd Wigley 38 4 1 +1 156,796 0.5 0.61 +0.1 Democratic Unionist Party Ian Paisley 7 3 103,039 0.3 0.46 0.0 Sinn Féin Gerry Adams 14 0 1 −1 78,291 0.2 0.0 −0.1 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland John Alderdice 16 0 68,695 0.2 0.0 0.0 Liberal Party (UK, 1989) Michael Meadowcroft 73 0 64,744 0.2 0.0 Natural Law Party Geoffrey Clements 309 0 62,888 0.2 0.0 Independent Social Democrat N/A 2 0 28,599 0.1 0.0 Independent politician Independent Labour N/A 6 0 22,844 0.1 0.0 Ulster Popular Unionist Party James Kilfedder 1 1 19,305 0.1 0.15 0.0 Independent Conservative N/A 12 0 11,356 0.0 0.0 Official Monster Raving Loony Party Screaming Lord Sutch 25 0 7,929 0.0 0.0 Independent politician N/A 23 0 7,631 0.0 0.0 British National Party John Tyndall 13 0 7,631 0.0 0.0 Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990) John Bates 8 0 6,649 0.0 0.0 Scottish Militant Labour Tommy Sheridan 1 0 6,287 0.0 0.0 National Front (UK) National Front (United Kingdom) John McAuley 14 0 4,816 0.0 0.0 True Labour Sydney Bidwell 1 0 4,665 0.0 0.0 Anti-Federalist Alan Sked 17 0 4,383 0.0 0.0 Workers' Party (Ireland) Marian Donnelly 8 0 4,359 0.0 0.0 0.0 Official Conservative Hove Party Nigel Furness 1 0 2,658 0.0 0.0 Loony Green Stuart Hughes 5 0 2,538 0.0 0.0 Independent Unionist N/A 1 0 2,256 0.0 0.0 New Agenda Proinsias De Rossa 2 0 2,133 0.0 0.0 Independent Progressive Socialist N/A 1 0 1,094 0.0 0.0 Islamic Party of Britain David Pidcock 4 0 1,085 0.0 0.0 Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1978) Frank Furedi 8 0 745 0.0 0.0 Independent Nationalist N/A 1 0 649 0.0 0.0 Communist (PCC) Jack Conrad 4 0 603 0.0 0.0 All parties with more than 500 votes shown. Plaid Cymru result includes votes for Green/Plaid Cymru Alliance. Government's new majority21Total votes cast33,614,074Turnout77.7% Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 41.9 Labour Labour Party (UK) 34.4 Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats (UK) 17.8 Scottish National Scottish National Party 1.9 Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party 0.8 Others #777777 2.9 Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 410px Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 51.6 Labour Labour Party (UK) 41.6 Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats (UK) 3.1 Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party 1.4 Others #777777 2.3 alt=Ring charts of the election results showing popular vote against seats won, coloured in party colours|right|thumb|200x200px|Seats won in the election (outer ring) against number of votes (inner ring) right|thumb|The disproportionality of the house of parliament in the 1992 election was 13.59 according to the Gallagher Index, mainly between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. Results by voter characteristics +Ethnic group voting intentionSaggar Shamit https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.15976631 Race and representation: Electoral politics and ethnic pluralism in Britain 2000 Manchester University PressEthnic groupPartyLabourConservativeSDP/LibOtherEthnic minority (non-White)81%10%n/a9%AsianRace And British Electoral Politics https://www.routledge.com/Race-And-British-Electoral-Politics/Saggar/p/book/9781857288308 2025-10-07 Routledge & CRC Press en77%11%10%3%Afro-Caribbean85%8%6%1% +Ethnic group by class voting intentionEthnic groupClassWhitenon-WhiteABC1C2DEABC1C2DELabour37%52%54%78%Conservative47%28%31%8% Incumbents defeated PartyNameConstituencyOffice held while in powerYear electedDefeated byParty Conservative PartyHumfrey MalinsCroydon North West1983Malcolm WicksLabour PartyMichael KnowlesNottingham East1983John HeppellLabour Party Martin Brandon-BravoNottingham South1983Alan SimpsonLabour Party Andy StewartSherwoodParliamentary private secretary to the Leader of the House of Commons1983Paddy TippingLabour Party Tim JanmanThurrock1987Andrew MacKinlayLabour Party Michael IrvineIpswich1987Jamie CannLabour Party Colin MoynihanLewisham EastParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy1983Bridget PrenticeLabour Party Sir William SheltonStreatham1970Keith HillLabour Party Patrick Ground QCFeltham and Heston1983Alan KeenLabour Party Sir Neil ThorneIlford South1979Mike GapesLabour Party Hugo SummersonWalthamstow1987Neil GerrardLabour Party Michael FallonDarlingtonParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education1983Alan MilburnLabour Party Chris ButlerWarrington South1987Mike HallLabour Party Cecil FranksBarrow and Furness1983John HuttonLabour Party Tony FavellStockport1983Ann CoffeyLabour Party Ken HargreavesHyndburn1983Greg PopeLabour Party John LeePendle1979Gordon PrenticeLabour Party Ken HindLancashire WestParliamentary private secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland1983Colin PickthallLabour Party Sir David TrippierRossendale and Darwen1979Janet AndersonLabour Party The Right Honourable Lynda ChalkerWallaseyMinister for Overseas Development & Africa1974Angela EagleLabour Party Christopher ChopeSouthampton ItchenParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport1983John DenhamLabour Party The Right Honourable Chris PattenBathChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster & Chairman of the Conservative Party1979Don FosterLiberal Democrats Jonathan SayeedBristol EastParliamentary private secretary to the Paymaster General1983Jean CortsonLabour Party Rob HaywardKingswood1983Roger BerryLabour Party Sir Gerry NealeNorth Cornwall1979Paul TylerLiberal Democrats Tony SpellerNorth Devon1979Nick HarveyLiberal Democrats Lewis StevensNuneaton1983Bill OlnerLabour PartyThe Right Honourable Francis MaudeNorth WarwickshireFinancial Secretary to the Treasury1983Mike O'BrienLabour Party Roger KingBirmingham Northfield1983Richard BurdenLabour Party Anthony Beaumont-DarkBirmingham Selly Oak1979Lynne JonesLabour Party David Gilroy BevanBirmingham Yardley1979Estelle MorrisLabour PartyMaureen HicksWolverhampton North EastParliamentary private secretary to the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office1987Ken PurchaseLabour PartyIan GristCardiff Central1974Jon Owen JonesLabour PartyJohn MaplesLewisham WestEconomic Secretary to the Treasury1983Jim DowdLabour PartyGerald BowdenDulwich1983Tessa JowellLabour PartyGerald HowarthCannock and Burntwood1983Tony WrightLabour PartyConal GregoryYork1983Hugh BayleyLabour PartyNicholas BennettPembrokeshireParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales1983Nick AingerLabour PartyLabour PartyFrank DoranAberdeen South1987Raymond RobertsonConservative PartyJohn SmithVale of Glamorgan1989Walter SweeneyConservative PartyHuw EdwardsMonmouth1991Roger Kenneth EvansConservative PartyAshok KumarLangbaurgh1991Michael BatesConservative PartySylvia HealMid Staffordshire1990Michael FabricantConservative PartyLiberal DemocratsMichael CarrRibble Valley1991Nigel EvansConservative PartyRonnie FearnSouthport1987Matthew BanksConservative PartyDavid BellottiEastbourne1990Nigel WatersonConservative PartyNicol StephenKincardine and Deeside1991George KynochConservative PartyRichard LivseyBrecon and Radnor1985Jonathan EvansConservative PartyGeraint HowellsCeredigion and Pembroke North1974Cynog DafisPlaid CymruSocial Democratic PartyRosie BarnesGreenwich1987Nick RaynsfordLabour PartyJohn CartwrightFormer Labour MP, joined SDP.Woolwich1974John AustinLabour PartyScottish National PartyJim SillarsGlasgow Govan Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party1988Ian DavidsonLabour PartyDick DouglasFormer Labour MP, joined SNP. Contested sitting MP's seat.Dunfermline West (contested Glasgow Garscadden)1979Donald DewarLabour PartyIndependentJohn BrowneWinchester1979Gerry MaloneConservative PartyDave NellistFormer Labour MP, expelled from party.Coventry South East1983Jim CunninghamLabour PartyJohn HughesCoventry North East1987Bob AinsworthLabour PartyTerry FieldsLiverpool Broadgreen1983Jane KennedyLabour PartySyd BidwellFormer Labour MP, de-selected by party.Ealing Southall1966Piara KhabraLabour PartyRon BrownEdinburgh Leith1979Malcolm ChisholmLabour PartySinn FéinGerry Adams Belfast WestPresident of Sinn Féin1983Joe HendronSocial Democratic and Labour Party Television coverage The BBC ran coverage from 21:55 till 06:00, and from 09:30 till 16:00 on Friday 10 April.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4YY7KWJAtA BBC: Election 92 (Part 1) Here Is The News 9 April 2017 YouTubeArchived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_JE8kwL-ew BBC: Election 92 (Part 2) Here Is The News 9 April 2017 YouTube Unlike most prior British elections, the BBC's coverage started five minutes before the polls closed and the result of the exit poll was announced live, accompanied by footage of Big Ben striking, at 10pm. This method of revealing the exit poll has been repeated in all subsequent BBC election night broadcasts. Coverage was, according to the Radio Times, supposed to end at 04:00 on Friday morning, but was extended.https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1992-04-09 BBC One London – 9 April 1992 – BBC Genome genome.ch.bbc.co.uk 22 May 2019 23 March 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200323195656/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1992-04-09 live The BBC began construction of the Election 92 studio in October 1990, completing it in February 1991, due to speculation that an early election may be called in 1991. Rehearsals were held in the event of a Conservative and Labour victory.British Elections C-SPAN.org https://www.c-span.org/video/?25480-1/british-elections 2021-02-24 www.c-span.org en-us 9 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210409231825/https://www.c-span.org/video/?25480-1%2Fbritish-elections live Although the election was not part of the storyline, there was much background chanting and campaigning in the BBC television soap opera EastEnders.Home · BoB https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/151DD5F6?bcast=131047530 2021-02-24 learningonscreen.ac.uk 15 January 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200115072339/https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/151DD5F6%3Fbcast%3D131047530 live On ITV, ITN produced their election night coverage from their studios in London, with Jon Snow anchoring the coverage from 22:00 until 06:00. They continued their daytime coverage on Friday 10 April from 09:25 until 15:25. Breakfast coverage of the election results were provided by TV-am, the ITV breakfast franchise, from 06:00 until 09:25, who were producing their third and final general election special.https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FP6_wzIWQAIB7As?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 TV Thursday 9 April 4-10 April 1992 66 Radio Times pbs.twimg.com 28 April 2022 28 April 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220428190229/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FP6_wzIWQAIB7As?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 live See also List of MPs elected in the 1992 United Kingdom general election 1992 United Kingdom general election in England 1992 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1992 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1992 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland 1992 United Kingdom local elections Baltic Exchange bombing Manifestos The Best Future For Britain – 1992 Conservative manifesto. It's time to get Britain working again – 1992 Labour Party manifesto. Changing Britain for good – 1992 Liberal Democrats manifesto. Notes 30em Further reading Butler, David E., et al. The British General Election of 1992 (1992), the standard scholarly study External links Catalogue of 1992 general election ephemera https://web.archive.org/web/20220928161214/https://archives.lse.ac.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=GENERAL%20ELECTION%201992 28 September 2022 at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics. collapsed 1992 General election United Kingdom general election Category:Neil Kinnock Category:Premiership of John Major Category:History of the Conservative Party (UK)