1997 United Kingdom general election

none May 2013 July 2024 1997 United Kingdom general election United Kingdom parliamentary no 1992 United Kingdom general election 1992 List of MPs elected in the 1992 United Kingdom general election 2001 United Kingdom general election 2001 List of MPs elected in the 1997 United Kingdom general election All 659 seats to the House of Commons 330The 2 Sinn Féin MPs did not take their seats, so the effective number of seats in the House of Commons was 657, making a majority 329 seats. Members elected 1 May 1997 31,286,28471.3% (6.4 pp) 43,846,152https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/1997_registered_voters 1997 - Registered voters 27 February 2022 Opinion polling for the 1997 United Kingdom general election Tony Blair 1997.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Tony Blair 21 July 1994 Labour Party (UK) Sedgefield 271 seats, 34.4% 273† 418Does not include the Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, who was included in the Labour totals by some media outlets 146* 13,518,167 43.2% 8.9 pp Major PM full (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 John Major 27 November 1990Major resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party on 22 June 1995 to face critics in his party and government, and was re-elected as Leader on 4 July 1995 Conservative Party (UK) Huntingdon 336 seats, 41.9% 343† 165 178* 9,591,085 30.6% 11.3 pp Paddy Ashdown (2005) (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Paddy Ashdown 16 July 1988 Liberal Democrats (UK) Yeovil 20 seats, 17.8% 18† 46 28* 5,242,947 16.8% 1.0 pp UK General Election, 1997.svg 200px Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.* Indicates boundary change, so this is a nominal figure. † Notional 1992 results on new boundaries. File:House of Commons elected members, 1997.svg 360px Composition of the House of Commons after the election Prime Minister Prime Minister after election John Major Conservative Party (UK) Tony Blair Labour Party (UK) A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the opposition Labour Party led by Tony Blair, which achieved a 177-seat majority and a total of 418 seats. This was the first victory for the Labour party in a general election in nearly 23 years, its previous one registering a majority of three seats in October 1974 under the leadership of Harold Wilson. It was also Labour's first comprehensive victory over the Conservatives since the 1966 election, which had produced a 98-seat majority. This election also marked Labour's highest vote share since the 1970 election and its second highest total number of votes in history (the largest being the 1951 election). On the other hand, it was an ignominious end to the 18-year government of the Conservatives, the longest continuous period of government of any party in modern British history. This election marked the third-largest defeat ever suffered by the Conservatives (exceeded only by the 1906 and 2024 elections) with the party left with just 165 seats—it was left devoid of any MPs outside England, with only 17 MPs north of the Midlands, and with less than 20% of MPs in London. Additionally, the party also registered its lowest share of the vote since 1832 as well as its lowest vote in absolute terms since 1929. This would be the last election until 2024 that the Conservatives decreased their share of the vote. The final result of the election on 2 May 1997 revealed that Labour had won a landslide majority, making a net gain of 146 seats and winning 43.2% of the vote. 150 Members of Parliament, including 133 Conservatives, lost their seats. The Conservatives, meanwhile, suffered defeat with a net loss of 178 seats, winning 30.7% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats led by Paddy Ashdown made a net gain of 28 seats, winning 16.8% of the vote. Labour's victory, the largest achieved in its history and by any political party in British politics since the Second World War, brought about the party's first of three consecutive terms in power (lasting a total of 13 years), with Blair as the newly appointed prime minister. The Liberal Democrats' success in the election, in part due to anti-Conservative tactical voting,Hermann Michael Munzert Simon Selb Peter The conventional wisdom about tactical voting is wrong https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-conventional-wisdom-about-tactical-voting-is-wrong/ British Politics and Policy at Lse London School of Economics 7 July 2020 4 November 2015 strengthened both Ashdown's leadership and the party's position as a strong third party, having won the highest number of seats by any third party since 1929. The Conservatives lost many ministers such as Michael Portillo, Tony Newton, Malcolm Rifkind, Ian Lang and William Waldegrave and controversial MPs such as Neil Hamilton and Jonathan Aitken, while some of the Conservative newcomers in this election were future Prime Minister Theresa May, future Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, future Leader of the House Andrew Lansley, and future Speaker John Bercow.The Election. The Statistics. How the UK voted on May 1st. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/news/05/0505/stats.shtml 8 July 2020 BBC Politics 97 BBC News Meanwhile, Labour newcomers included future Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet members Hazel Blears, Ben Bradshaw, Yvette Cooper, Caroline Flint, Barry Gardiner, Alan Johnson, Ruth Kelly, John McDonnell, Stephen Twigg and Rosie Winterton, as well as future Scottish Labour Leader Jim Murphy and future Speaker Lindsay Hoyle. The election of 120 women, including 101 to the Labour benches, came to be seen as a watershed moment in female political representation in the UK.Harman Harriet Harriet Harman Labour's 1997 victory was a watershed for women but our gains are at risk https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/10/labour-1997-victory-women-101-female-mps The Guardian 10 April 2017 8 July 2020 Background The British economy had been in recession at the time of the 1992 general election, which the governing Conservative Party led by John Major had won. The recession ended within a year, but later events such as Black Wednesday severely tarnished the Conservative government's reputation for economic management. Meanwhile, the opposition Labour Party elected John Smith as its leader in 1992 to succeed Neil Kinnock; however, Smith's death from a heart attack in 1994 led to a leadership election which was won by Shadow Home Secretary Tony Blair. Blair sought to bring the party closer to the political centre of the era, including rebranding the party as "New Labour". He convinced the party's members and affiliated trades unions to support the removal of Clause IV from its constitution, which had committed it to the mass nationalisation of industry, and the party also reversed its policy on unilateral nuclear disarmament. The events of Black Wednesday also meant Labour—and shadow chancellor Gordon Brown—were perceived as offering more competent economic management than the Conservatives. Labour's manifesto, New Labour, New Life for Britain, was published in 1996 and outlined five key pledges: Class sizes to be cut to 30 or under for 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds by using money from the assisted places scheme. Fast track punishment for persistent young offenders, by halving the time from arrest to sentencing. Cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first step by releasing £100 million saved from NHS red tape. Get 250,000 under-25-year-olds off benefit and into work by using money from a windfall levy on the privatised utilities. No rise in income tax rates, cut VAT on heating to 5%, and keeping inflation and interest rates as low as possible. Disputes within the Conservative government over European Union issues, and a variety of "sleaze" allegations, severely affected the government's popularity. Despite the economic recovery and fall in unemployment in the four years leading up to the election, the rise in Conservative support was only marginal, with all of the major opinion polls showing Labour in a comfortable lead from late 1992 onwards.1997: Labour landslide ends Tory rule http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393323.stm BBC News 15 April 2005 28 March 2010 Following the 1992 general election, the Conservatives remained in government with 336 of the 651 House of Commons seats, but through a series of defections and by-election defeats the government gradually lost its absolute majority. By 1997, the Conservatives held only 324 seats and had not won a by-election since Richmond in 1989. Timing The previous Parliament first sat on 27 April 1992. The Parliament Act 1911 required at the time for each Parliament to be dissolved on the fifth anniversary of its first sitting; therefore, the latest date the dissolution and the summoning of the next parliament could have been held on was 27 April 1997. The 1985 amendment of the Representation of the People Act 1983 required that the election must take place on the eleventh working day after the deadline for nomination papers, which in turn must be no more than six working days after the next parliament was summoned. Therefore, the latest date the election could have been held on was 22 May 1997 (which happened to be a Thursday). British elections (and referendums) have been held on Thursdays by convention since the 1930s, but can be held on other working days. Campaign Major called the election on Monday 17 March 1997, ensuring the formal campaign would be unusually long, at six weeks (Parliament was dissolved on 8 April).https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1997/mar/17/dissolution-of-parliament House of Lords Debates vol 579 cc653-4: Dissolution of Parliament Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) 17 March 1997 21 June 2010 The election was scheduled for 1 May, to coincide with the local elections on the same day. This set a precedent, as the three subsequent general elections were also held alongside the May local elections. The Conservatives argued that a long campaign would expose Labour and allow the Conservative message to be heard. However, Major was accused of arranging an early dissolution to protect Neil Hamilton from a pending parliamentary report into his conduct: a report that Major had earlier guaranteed would be published before the election.Hencke David 19 March 1997 Fury as sleaze report buried en-GB The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1997/mar/19/conservatives.uk 14 May 2023 0261-3077 In March 1997, soon after the election was called, Asda introduced a range of election-themed beers, these being "Major's Mild", "Tony's Tipple" and "Ashdown's Ale".http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/advertising-promotion-ads-contract-election-fever/60527 Advertising & Promotion: Ads contract election fever Campaign 20 March 1997 9 April 2017 The political backdrop of campaigning focused on public opinion towards a change in government. Blair, as Labour leader, focused on transforming his party through a more centrist policy platform, titled "New Labour", with promises of devolution referendums for Scotland and Wales, fiscal responsibility, and a decision to nominate more female politicians for election through the use of all-women shortlists from which to choose candidates. Major sought to rebuild public trust in the Conservatives following a series of scandals, including the events of Black Wednesday in 1992,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/202525.stm UK Politics - The Major Scandal Sheet BBC News through campaigning on the strength of the economic recovery following the early 1990s recession, but faced divisions within the party over the UK's membership of the European Union.Miers David Britain in the European Union Palgrave Macmillan London 2004 12–36 978-1-4039-0452-2 10.1057/9780230523159_2 Opinion polls during campaigning showed strong support for Labour due to Blair's personal popularity,The Polls and the British General Election of 1997 https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/polls-and-british-general-election-1997 www.ipsos.com 31 December 1997 10 March 2021Blair ahead in leadership ratings https://news.bbc.co.uk/news/vote2001/hi/english/opinion_polls/newsid_1306000/1306664.stm BBC News 3 May 2001 10 March 2021 and Blair won a personal public endorsement from The Sun newspaper two months before the vote. Conservative campaign Major hoped that a long campaign would expose Labour's "hollowness" and the Conservative campaign emphasised stability, as did its manifesto title 'You can only be sure with the Conservatives'.Snowdon 2010 4 However, the campaign was beset by deep-set problems, such as the rise of James Goldsmith's Referendum Party which advocated a referendum on continued membership of the European Union. The party threatened to take away many right-leaning voters from the Conservatives. Furthermore, about 200 candidates broke with official Conservative policy to oppose British membership of the single European currency.Travis, Alan (17 April 1997). "Rebels' seven-year march". The Guardian (London). Major fought back, saying: "Whether you agree with me or disagree with me; like me or loathe me, don't bind my hands when I am negotiating on behalf of the British nation." The moment is remembered as one of the defining, and most surreal, moments of the election.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/election-97--john-major-takes-on-the-tories-1267550.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/election-97--john-major-takes-on-the-tories-1267550.html 1 May 2022 subscription Election '97: John Major takes on the Tories Bevins Anthony 17 April 1997 The Independent 19 December 2015 Snowdon 2010 4 Meanwhile, there was also division amongst the Conservative cabinet, with Chancellor Kenneth Clarke describing the views of Home Secretary Michael Howard on Europe as "paranoid and xenophobic nonsense". The Conservatives also struggled to come up with a definitive theme to attack Labour, with some strategists arguing for an approach which castigated Labour for "stealing Tory clothes" (copying their positions), with others making the case for a more confrontational approach, stating that "New Labour" was just a façade for "old Labour". The New Labour, New Danger poster, which depicted Tony Blair with demon eyes, was an example of the latter strategy. Major veered between the two approaches, which left Conservative Central Office staff frustrated. As Andrew Cooper explained: "We repeatedly tried and failed to get him to understand that you couldn't say that they were dangerous and copying you at the same time."Snowdon 2010 35 In any case, the campaign failed to gain much traction, and the Conservatives went down to a landslide defeat at the polls. Labour campaign Labour ran an effective campaign that emphasised the splits within the Conservative government and argued that the country needed a more centrist administration. It thus successfully picked up dissatisfied Conservative voters, particularly moderate and suburban ones. Tony Blair, who was personally highly popular, was very much the centrepiece of the campaign and proved a highly effective campaigner. The Labour campaign was reminiscent of those of Bill Clinton for the US presidency in 1992 and 1996, focusing on centrist themes as well as adopting policies more commonly associated with the right, such as cracking down on crime and fiscal responsibility. The influence of political "spin" came into great effect for Labour at this point, as media centric figures such as Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson provided a clear cut campaign, and establishing a relatively new political brand New Labour with enviable success. In this election Labour adopted the theme Things Can Only Get Better in their campaign and advertising.https://web.archive.org/web/20240209111441/https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/new-labour-brand-10-years/653501 campaignlive.co.uk 9 February 2024 live The New Labour brand 10 years on 9 February 2024 David Tiltman 1 May 2007 In keeping with the New Labour message, the party's 1997 campaign attacked the economic record of the Tories following 1992's Black Wednesday and promised national renewal, memorably using D:Ream's song Things Can Only Get Better. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/new-labour-brand-10-years/653501https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/21/new-labour-1997-rave-culture-ed-gillett-book-extract https://web.archive.org/web/20240209115505/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/21/new-labour-1997-rave-culture-ed-gillett-book-extract 9 February 2024 live 9 February 2024 'From the dancefloor to the ballot box': how house music helped Labour win a landslide in 1997 Ed Gillett 22 July 2023 The Guardian First released in 1993, but only lightly grazing the Top 40 on its initial foray into the charts, a poppier remix of D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better spent four weeks at No 1 the following January. Two years on from that, it was co-opted for the launch of Labour’s five “pre-manifesto” pledges, written largely by Tony Blair himself. Something in the song’s message clearly resonated with Labour apparatchiks, or tested well with the party’s army of focus groups: by the time the election came around in May 1997, Things Can Only Get Better had displaced The Red Flag as New Labour’s election anthem, the feelgood sonic backdrop to rallies, photo opportunities and campaign adverts alike. Liberal Democrat campaign The Liberal Democrats had suffered a disappointing performance in 1992, but they were very much strengthened in 1997 due in part to potential tactical voting between Labour and Lib Dem supporters in Conservative marginal constituencies, particularly in the south of England – which explains why while given their share of the vote decreased, their number of seats nearly doubled. The Lib Dems promised to increase education funding paid for by a 1p increase in income tax. Endorsements In a sign of the change of direction which New Labour represented, they were endorsed by The Sun,https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1997/mar/18/past.roygreenslade It's the Sun wot's switched sides to back Blair Roy Greenslade 18 March 1997 The Guardian as well as the more left-leaning newspapers the Daily Mirror, The Independent and The Guardian.http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/04/general-election-newspaper-support Newspaper support in UK general elections Katy Stoddard 4 May 2010 The Guardian The Conservatives were endorsed by the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and The Daily Telegraph. The Times did not endorse a specific party, but instead encouraged voters to support individual candidates "against the further integration of the European Union". Principle Not Party 29 April 1997 The Times 23 Opinion polling Opinion polling for the 1997 United Kingdom general election 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 thumb|1000px|centre|18em #DC241f solid 5px Labour #0087DC solid 5px Conservatives #FAA61A solid 5px Liberal Democrats Notional 1992 results Fourth periodic review of Westminster constituencies right|thumb| The notional results of the 1992 election, as shown on a map of the 1997 constituencies. The election was fought under new boundaries, with a net increase of eight seats compared to the 1992 election (651 to 659). Changes listed here are from the notional 1992 result, had it been fought on the boundaries established in 1997. These notional results were calculated by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher and were used by all media organisations at the time. Notional UK General Election 1992 Labour Party (UK) 273 +2 17 15 11,560,484 34.4 41.6 Conservative Party (UK) 343 +7 28 21 14,093,007 41.9 52.1 Liberal Democrats (UK) 18 0 2 −2 5,999,384 17.8 2.7 Other parties 25 1 0 +1 5.9 3.6 |} Results Results of the 1997 United Kingdom general election Results of the 1997 United Kingdom general election by constituency thumb|Equal-area projection of constituencies thumb|400px|Result by countries and English regions Labour won a landslide victory with its largest parliamentary majority (177) to date. On the BBC's election night programme Professor Anthony King described the result of the exit poll, which accurately predicted a Labour landslide, as being akin to "an asteroid hitting the planet and destroying practically all life on Earth". After years of trying, Labour had convinced the electorate that they would usher in a new age of prosperity—their policies, organisation and tone of optimism slotting perfectly into place. Labour's victory was largely credited to the charisma of Tony Blair,Ben Pimlott New Labour, New Era? The Political Quarterly October 1997 68 4 325–334 10.1111/1467-923X.00099 as well as a Labour public relations machine managed by Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson. Between the 1992 election and the 1997 election there had also been major steps to "modernise" the party, including scrapping Clause IV that had committed the party to extending public ownership of industry. Labour had suddenly seized the middle ground of the political spectrum, attracting voters much further to the right than their traditional working class or left wing support. In the early hours of 2 May 1997 a party was held at the Royal Festival Hall, in which Blair stated that "a new dawn has broken, has it not?" The election was a crushing defeat for the Conservatives, with the party having its lowest percentage share of the popular vote since 1832 under the Duke of Wellington's leadership, being wiped out in Scotland and Wales. A number of prominent Conservative MPs lost their seats in the election, including Michael Portillo, Malcolm Rifkind, Edwina Currie, David Mellor, Neil Hamilton and Norman Lamont, with Portillo's defeat in particular being the most symbolic since he was widely anticipated to challenge for the Conservatives' leadership upon the likely resignation of John Major. Such was the extent of Conservative losses at the election that Cecil Parkinson, speaking on the BBC's election night programme, joked upon the Conservatives winning their second seat that he was pleased that the subsequent election for the leadership would be contested. The Liberal Democrats stood on a more left-wing manifesto than Labour,Geoffrey Evans Pippa Norris Geoff Evans (political scientist) Pippa Norris Critical elections: British parties and voters in long-term perspective 1999 SAGE Publishing 259–271 14 - Conclusion: Was 1997 a Critical Election? and more than doubled their number of seats thanks to the use of tactical voting against the Conservatives. Although their share of the vote fell slightly, their total of 46 MPs was the highest for any UK Liberal party since David Lloyd George led the party to 59 seats in 1929. The Referendum Party, which sought a referendum on the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union, came fourth in terms of votes with 800,000 votes and won no seats in parliament, whose leader James Goldsmith unsuccessfully contested the seat of Putney against incumbent former minister David Mellor (who ultimately lost the seat to Labour), with Goldsmith dying two months after the election, and the party dissolved shortly afterwards. The six parties with the next highest votes stood only in either Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales; in order, they were the Scottish National Party, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Féin, and the Democratic Unionist Party. In the previously safe seat of Tatton, where incumbent Conservative MP Neil Hamilton was facing charges of having taken cash for questions, the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties decided not to field candidates in order that an independent candidate, Martin Bell, would have a better chance of winning the seat, which he did with a comfortable margin. The result declared for the constituency of Winchester showed a margin of victory of just two votes for the Liberal Democrats. The defeated Conservative candidate mounted a successful legal challenge to the result on the grounds that errors by election officials (failures to stamp certain votes) had changed the result; the court ruled the result invalid and ordered a by-election on 20 November which was won by the Liberal Democrats with a much larger majority, causing much recrimination in the Conservative Party about the decision to challenge the original result in the first place. This election saw a doubling of the number of women in parliament, from 60 elected in 1992 to 120 elected in 1997.Kelly Richard Women in the House of Commons: Background Paper https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06651/ House of Commons Library UK Parliament 8 July 2020 21 August 2018 101 of them (controversially described as Blair Babes) were on the Labour benches,Harriet Harman Harriet Harman Labour's 1997 victory was a watershed for women – but our gains are at risk https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/10/labour-1997-victory-women-101-female-mps The Guardian 20 April 2022 10 April 2017 a number driven by the Labour Party's 1993 policy (ruled illegally discriminatory in 1996) of all-women shortlists. This election has therefore been widely seen as a watershed moment for representation of women in the UK.Flint Caroline Spelman Caroline How the Class of '97 Changed Westminster https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/how-the-class-of-97-changed-westminster Politics Home - The House Politics Home 8 July 2020 4 May 2017Kirk Ashley Scott Patrick General election 2017 sees record number of women candidates https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/general-election-2017-sees-record-level-female-candidates/ The Telegraph 8 July 2020 17 June 2017Blaxill Luke Beelen Kaspar Women in Parliament since 1945: have they changed the debate? History & Policy - Policy Papers 25 July 2016 http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/women-in-parliament-since-1945-have-they-changed-the-debate 8 July 2020 We suggest that 1997 was significant because it helped normalise a large female presence at Westminster which absolved women MPs of the obligation to act as 'token women' and thus as spokeswomen for their sex.Childs Sarah The new labour women MPs in the 1997 British parliament: issues of recruitment and representation Women's History Review 2000 9 1 55–73 10.1080/09612020000200228 Routledge (Taylor & Francis) 1747-583X The research suggests that women MPs consider that women’s presence has the potential to transform the parliamentary political agenda and style. free This election marked the start of Labour government for the next 13 years, lasting until the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010. Summary of seats returned + centre|420px PartyBritish Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher 55 Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006 Leader MPs Aggregate votes Of total Of total Labour Party Tony Blair 418Includes 26 Co-operative Party MP, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 418 659 1 yes Labour Party (UK) 13,518,167 43.2% 43.2 Labour Party (UK) Conservative and Unionist Party John Major 165 165 659 1 yes Conservative Party (UK) 9,600,943 30.7% 30.7 Conservative Party (UK) Liberal Democrats Paddy Ashdown 46 46 659 1 yes Liberal Democrats (UK) 5,242,947 16.8% 16.8 Liberal Democrats (UK) Ulster Unionist Party David Trimble 10 10 659 1 yes Ulster Unionist Party 258,349 0.8% 0.8 Ulster Unionist Party Scottish National Party Alex Salmond 6 6 659 1 yes Scottish National Party 621,550 2.0% 2.0 Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru Dafydd Wigley 4 4 659 1 yes Plaid Cymru 161,030 0.5% 0.5 Plaid Cymru Social Democratic and Labour Party John Hume 3 3 659 1 yes Social Democratic and Labour Party 190,814 0.6% 0.6 Social Democratic and Labour Party Sinn Féin Gerry Adams 2 2 659 1 yes Sinn Féin 126,921 0.4% 0.4 Sinn Féin Democratic Unionist Party Ian Paisley 2 2 659 1 yes Democratic Unionist Party 107,348 0.3% 0.3 Democratic Unionist Party Independent 1 1 659 1 yes Independent (politician) 64,482 0.2% 0.2 Independent (politician) Speaker Betty Boothroyd 1 1 659 1 yes Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) 23,969 0.1% 0.1 Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) UK Unionist Party Robert McCartney 1 1 659 1 yes UK Unionist Party 12,817 0.0% 0.0 UK Unionist Party Full results centre|500x500px : : 1997 United Kingdom general electionhttps://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m15.pdf https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m15.pdf 9 October 2022 live General Election Results, 1 May 1997 Factsheet No. 68 Morgan Bryn February 1999 House of Commons Information Office 1 April 2019 Labour Party (UK) Tony Blair 639 Includes 26 Co-operative Party candidates, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 418 Includes 26 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 146 0 +145 Includes +12 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 13,518,167 Includes 654,203 for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 43.2 Includes 2.1% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance 63.4 Includes 3.9% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance +8.8 Includes +0.6% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance yes Conservative Party (UK) John Major 648 165 0 178 –178 9,591,085 30.7 25.0 –11.2 Liberal Democrats (UK) Paddy Ashdown 639 46 30 2 +28 5,242,947 16.8 7.0 –1.0 Referendum Party James Goldsmith 547 0 0 0 0 811,849 2.6 N/A Scottish National Party Alex Salmond 72 6 3 0 +3 621,550 2.0 0.9 +0.1 Ulster Unionist Party David Trimble 16 10 1 0 +1 258,349 0.8 1.5 0.0 Social Democratic and Labour Party John Hume 18 3 0 1 –1 190,814 0.6 0.5 +0.1 Plaid Cymru Dafydd Wigley 40 4 0 0 0 161,030 0.5 0.6 0.0 Sinn Féin Gerry Adams 17 2 2 0 +2 126,921 0.4 0.3 0.0 Democratic Unionist Party Ian Paisley 9 2 0 1 –1 107,348 0.3 0.3 0.0 UK Independence Party Alan Sked 193 0 0 0 0 105,722 0.3 N/A Independent politician N/A 25 1 1 0 +1 64,482 0.2 0.2 0.0 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland John Alderdice 17 0 0 0 0 62,972 0.2 0.0 Green Party of England and Wales Peg Alexander and David Taylor 89 0 0 0 0 61,731 0.2 –0.2 Socialist Labour Party (UK) Arthur Scargill 64 0 0 0 0 52,109 0.2 N/A Liberal Party (UK, 1989) Michael Meadowcroft 53 0 0 0 0 45,166 0.1 –0.1 British National Party John Tyndall 57 0 0 0 0 35,832 0.1 0.0 Natural Law Party Geoffrey Clements 197 0 0 0 0 30,604 0.1 –0.1 Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) Betty Boothroyd 1 1 1 0 0 23,969 0.1 ProLife Alliance Bruno Quintavalle 56 0 0 0 0 19,332 0.1 N/A UK Unionist Party Robert McCartney 1 1 1 0 +1 12,817 0.0 0.2 N/A Progressive Unionist Party Hugh Smyth 3 0 0 0 0 10,928 0.0 N/A National Democrats (UK) Ian Anderson 21 0 0 0 0 10,829 0.0 N/A Socialist Party (England and Wales) Peter Taaffe 0 0 0 0 9,906 0.0 N/A Scottish Socialist Alliance Tommy Sheridan 16 0 0 0 0 9,740 0.0 N/A Independent politician Independent Labour N/A 4 0 0 0 0 9,233 0.0 – 0.1 Independent Conservative N/A 4 0 0 0 0 8,608 0.0 –0.1 Official Monster Raving Loony Party Screaming Lord Sutch 24 0 0 0 0 7,906 0.0 –0.1 Make Politicians History Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket Rainbow George Weiss 29 0 0 0 0 3,745 0.0 N/A Northern Ireland Women's Coalition Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar 3 0 0 0 0 3,024 0.0 N/A Workers' Party (Ireland) Tom French 8 0 0 0 0 2,766 0.0 –0.1 National Front (UK) John McAuley 6 0 0 0 0 2,716 0.0 N/A Cannabis Law Reform Legalise Cannabis Alliance Howard Marks 4 0 0 0 0 2,085 0.0 N/A Socialist People's Party (Furness) People's Labour Party (UK) Jim Hamezian 1 0 0 0 0 1,995 0.0 N/A Mebyon Kernow Loveday Jenkin 4 0 0 0 0 1,906 0.0 N/A Scottish Greens Robin Harper 5 0 0 0 0 1,721 0.0 Conservative Anti-Euro Christopher Story 1 0 0 0 0 1,434 0.0 N/A Socialist Party of Great Britain None 5 0 0 0 0 1,359 0.0 N/A Community Representative Ralph Knight 1 0 0 0 0 1,290 0.0 N/A Neighborhood association Residents Association 1 0 0 0 0 1,263 0.0 N/A Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990–present) Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990) John Bates 2 0 0 0 0 1,246 0.0 –0.1 Workers Revolutionary Party (UK) Sheila Torrance 9 0 0 0 0 1,178 0.0 N/A Real Labour N/A 1 0 0 0 0 1,117 0.0 N/A Independent Democrat Independent Democratic N/A 0 0 0 0 982 0.0 Independent politician Independent Liberal Democrat N/A 0 0 0 0 890 0.0 Communist Party of Britain Mike Hicks 3 0 0 0 0 639 0.0 Independent politician Independent Green N/A 1 0 0 0 0 593 0.0 Green Party Northern Ireland 1 0 0 0 0 539 0.0 Socialist Equality Party (UK) Davy Hyland 3 0 0 0 0 505 0.0 |} All parties with more than 500 votes shown. Labour total includes New Labour and "Labour Time for Change" candidates; Conservative total includes candidates in Northern Ireland (excluded in some lists) and "Loyal Conservative" candidate.February 2018 The Popular Unionist MP elected in 1992 died in 1995, and the party folded shortly afterwards. There was no incumbent Speaker in the 1992 election. Government's new majority 177 Total votes cast 31,286,284 Turnout 71.3% thumb|right|200px|alt=Ring charts of the election results showing popular vote against seats won, coloured in party colours|Seats won in the election (outer ring) against number of votes (inner ring). Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 43.2 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 30.7 Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats (UK) 16.8 Referendum Referendum Party 2.6 Scottish National Scottish National Party 2.0 Others #777777 1.9 Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 63.4 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 25.0 Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats (UK) 7.0 Scottish National Scottish National Party 0.9 Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party 1.5 Others #777777 2.1 right|thumb|The disproportionality of the house of parliament in the 1997 election was 16.71 according to the Gallagher Index, mainly between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Results by constituent country LABCONLDSNPPCNI partiesOthersTotalEngland 328 165 34 - - - 2 529Wales 34 - 2 - 4 - - 40Scotland 56 - 10 6 - - - 72Northern Ireland - - - - - 18 - 18 Total 418 165 46 6 4 18 2 (inc Speaker) 659 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)78%17%n/a5%AsianRace And British Electoral Politics https://www.routledge.com/Race-And-British-Electoral-Politics/Saggar/p/book/9781857288308 2025-10-07 Routledge & CRC Press en70%25%4%1%Afro-Caribbean86%8%4%1% Defeated MPs MPs who lost their seats List of MPs who lost their seat in the 1997 United Kingdom general election Post-election events The poor results for the Conservative Party led to infighting, with the One Nation group, Tory Reform Group, and right-wing Maastricht Rebels blaming each other for the defeat. Party chairman Brian Mawhinney said on the night of the election that defeat was due to disillusionment with 18 years of Conservative rule. John Major resigned as party leader, saying "When the curtain falls, it is time to get off the stage".https://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/interview/major-players-1990-generation Major players: The 1990 generation 3 January 2014 TotalPolitics.com en 29 March 2020 Despite his well-publicised defeat, Michael Portillo returned to Parliament in a by-election two and a half years later. Following the defeat, the Conservatives began their longest continuous spell in opposition in the history of the present day (post–Tamworth Manifesto) Conservative Party – and indeed the longest such spell for any incarnation of the Tories/Conservatives since the 1760s and the end of the Whig Supremacy under Kings George I and George II – lasting 13 years, including the whole of the 2000s.Kettle Martin https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/13/cameron-clegg-liberal-bold-risk Tories rule: but liberal Tories with a New Labour legacy 13 May 2010 The Guardian 29 March 2020 en-GB 0261-3077 Throughout this period, their representation in the Commons remained consistently below 200 MPs. Meanwhile, Paddy Ashdown's continued leadership of the Liberal Democrats was assured, and they were felt to be in a position to build positively as a strong third party into the new millennium,BBC Politics 97 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge97lib.shtml BBC Politics 97 BBC News 29 March 2020 culminating in their sharing power in the 2010 coalition with the Conservatives. Internet coverage With the huge rise in internet use since the previous general election, BBC News created a special website – BBC Politics 97 – covering the election.BBC Politics 97 http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/ BBC Politics 97 BBC News 8 July 2020 1997 This site was an experiment for the efficiency of an online news service which was due for launch later in the year.http://www.freshnetworks.com/blog/2008/06/major-events-influenced-bbcs-news-online Major events influenced BBC's news online | FreshNetworks blog Freshnetworks.com 5 June 2008 9 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101228193301/http://www.freshnetworks.com/blog/2008/06/major-events-influenced-bbcs-news-online/ 28 December 2010 dead See also List of MPs elected in the 1997 United Kingdom general election 1997 United Kingdom general election in England 1997 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1997 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1997 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland 1997 United Kingdom local elections 1990s in political history Footnotes References Further reading Butler, David and Dennis Kavanagh. The British General Election of 1997 (1997), the standard scholarly study Snowdon Peter Peter Snowdon Back from the Brink: The Extraordinary Fall and Rise of the Conservative Party London HarperCollins 2010 2010 978-0-00-730884-2 Manifestos Labour (New Labour, New Life For Britain) Conservative (You can only be sure with the Conservatives) Liberal Democrats (Make the Difference) National Democrats (A Manifesto for Britain) British National Party (British Nationalism- An Idea whose time has come) Liberal Party (Radical ideas – not the dead centre) UK Independence Party Third Way The ProLife Alliance Sinn Féin (A New Opportunity for Peace) Democratic Unionist Party Alliance of Liberty (Agenda for Change) Progressive Unionist Party Ulster Unionist Party Plaid Cymru (The Best for Wales) Scottish National Party (Yes We Can Win the Best for Scotland) Scottish Green Party Socialist Equality Party (A strategy for a workers' government!) Communist Party of Great Britain External links BBC Election Website 1997 election manifestos – Link to 1997 election manifestos of various parties. Catalogue of 1997 general election ephemera https://web.archive.org/web/20231005030520/https://archives.lse.ac.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=GENERAL%20ELECTION%201997 5 October 2023 at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics. collapsed Category:1997 elections in the United Kingdom 1997 Category:May 1997 in the United Kingdom Category:Premiership of John Major Category:Tony Blair Category:Gordon Brown Category:Peter Mandelson Category:New Labour Category:History of the Labour Party (UK) lower-alpha