1997 United Kingdom general election
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 179-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 3 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. 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 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 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, 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.
Opinion polls during campaigning showed strong support for Labour due to Blair's personal popularity, and Blair won a personal public endorsement from The Sun newspaper two months before 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, with Blair as the newly appointed prime minister. The Liberal Democrats' success in the election, in part due to anti-Conservative tactical voting, 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.
Although 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, 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. 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.
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.
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. British elections 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. 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.
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".
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, 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.
Opinion polls during campaigning showed strong support for Labour due to Blair's personal popularity, 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'. 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. 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.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", 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." In any case, the campaign failed to gain much traction, and the Conservatives went down to a landslide defeat at the polls.