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{| class="infobox"
|[[United Kingdom general election, 1987|1987 election]] '''•''' [[MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1987|MPs]]
|-
|[[United Kingdom general election, 1992|1992 election]] '''•''' [[MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1992|MPs]]
|-
|'''1997 election''' '''•''' [[MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1997|MPs]]
|-
|[[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001 election]] '''•''' [[MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2001|MPs]]
|-
|[[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 election]] '''•''' [[MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005|MPs]]
|}

The '''UK general election, 1997''' was held on [[1 May]] [[1997]]. The [[Labour Party (UK)| Labour Party]] won the general election in a landslide victory with 418 seats, the most seats the party has ever held. The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] ended up with 165 seats, the fewest seats they have held since the [[United Kingdom general election, 1906| 1906 General Election]], and with no MPs for seats in [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]]. This marked the beginning of what has become the longest spell in opposition for the Conservative Party since the 19th century, as well as the longest spell in government ever for the Labour Party.

==The Campaign==
Prime Minister [[John Major]] obtained a [[dissolution]] on Monday [[17 March]] [[1997]] - so ensuring the formal campaign would be unusually long, at six weeks. It was stated at the time by Conservatives that a long campaign would expose Labour and allow the Conservative message to be heard. In fact the Conservative campaign was quickly blown off course when 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 an election. Labour also had their difficulties - in particular an argument about whether or not the party would [[privatise]] the [[air traffic control]] system, and over the party's relationship with the [[trade unions]].

By the middle of campaign, the large number of Conservative candidates became a key issue, including some serving ministers, who publicly repudiated government policy on the [[Euro|European single currency]]. Labour were cautious about this issue, but the symbolism of the deeply divided Conservative party helped them still.

In the final stages of the campaign, Labour concentrated heavily on projecting an image of [[Tony Blair]] as a dynamic and energetic young leader while the Conservatives were seen to indulge in infighting - with the-then [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[Kenneth Clarke]] describing the views of the [[Home Secretary]], [[Michael Howard]], on Europe as "paranoid nonsense".

==Overall picture and background==
Labour won a [[landslide victory]] with their largest parliamentary majority (179) to date, [[Anthony King (professor)|Professor Anthony King]] describing the election as being like "an asteroid hitting the planet and destroying practically all life on earth". The Liberal Democrat vote fell, but in terms of seats, it was their best General Election since [[United Kingdom general election, 1929|1929]] under [[David Lloyd George]]'s leadership. A heavy defeat for the Conservative Party, but not a [[Wipeout (elections)|wipeout]], with the party having its lowest percentage share of the popular vote since [[United Kingdom general election, 1832|1832]] under the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]]'s leadership, being left with no seats outside [[England]]. Several prominent members of the party also lost their seats, including:

*[[Michael Portillo]] - [[Secretary of State for Defence]]
*[[Malcolm Rifkind]] - [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]
*[[Ian Lang]] - [[Secretary of State for Trade and Industry]]
*[[Michael Forsyth]] - [[Secretary of State for Scotland]]
*[[William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill|William Waldegrave]] - [[Chief Secretary to the Treasury]]
*[[Nicholas Budgen]] - Leading [[Backbencher]] who rebelled against the [[Maastricht treaty]]
*[[Edwina Currie]] - Former Health Minister turned [[author]] and Radio and television [[presenter]]
*[[Angela Rumbold]] - Deputy [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]]
*[[Rhodes Boyson]] - Leading [[Backbencher]]
*[[John Bowis]] - [[Department of Health (United Kingdom)|Health]] Minister
*[[Iain Sproat]] - [[Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform|Trade]] Minister
*[[Robin Squire]] - [[Department for Education and Skills|Education]] Minister
*[[Andrew Mitchell]] - [[Department of Work and Pensions|Social Security]] Minister
*[[Tom Sackville]] - [[Home Office]] Minister
*[[Nicholas Bonsor]] - [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|Foreign Minister]]
*[[Neil Hamilton]] - Chairman of the [[Conservative Monday Club|Monday club]]
*[[Gyles Brandreth]] - [[Chief Whip|Whip]] and former media personality
*[[Seb Coe]] - Former Olympic gold medalist
*[[Phillip Oppenheim]] - [[Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury]]
*[[Tony Newton]] - [[Lord President of the Council]] and [[Leader of the House of Commons]]
*[[Roger Freeman]] - [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
*[[Marcus Fox]] - chairman of the [[1922 committee]]
*[[Norman Lamont]] - Former [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] and prominent Eurosceptic
*[[David Mellor]] - Former [[Secretary of State for National Heritage]]

The poor results for the Conservative Party led to infighting, with the [[One Nation]] [[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 it 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 leave the stage".

Labour's victory was largely credited to the charisma of [[Tony Blair]] and a slick Labour public relations machine managed by [[Alastair Campbell]]. Between the [[UK general election, 1997|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. Famously, in the early hours of [[2 May]] [[1997]] a party was held at the [[Royal Festival Hall]], in which Blair stated triumphantly "A new dawn has broken, has it not?".

The [[Referendum Party]], which sought a [[referendum]] on Britain's relationship with the [[European Union]], came fourth in terms of votes with 800,000 votes mainly from former Conservative voters, but won no seats in parliament. 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 (UK Parliament constituency)|Tatton]], where incumbent Conservative MP [[Neil Hamilton (politician)|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 duly did with a comfortable margin.

The result declared for the constituency of [[Winchester (UK Parliament constituency)|Winchester]] showed a margin of victory of just 2 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 [[Winchester by-election, 1997|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.

==Results==
The election was fought under new boundaries, with a net increase of eight seats compared to the 1992 election. Changes listed here are from the notional 1992, result had it been fought on the boundaries established in 1997. These notional results were used by all media organisations at the time.

[[Image:Tony Blair.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Tony Blair]], leader of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]].]]
[[Image:John Major 1996.jpg|thumb|100px|[[John Major]], leader of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] and [[Prime Minister]].]]
[[Image:Paddy Ashdown 1.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Paddy Ashdown]], leader of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].]]

{{Election Summary Begin| title = UK General Election 1997}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Labour Party (UK)
|leader = Tony Blair
|seats = 418
|gain = 147
|loss = 0
|net = + 147
|votes = 13,518,167
|votes % = 43.2
|seats % = 63.4
|plus/minus = + 8.8
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Conservative Party (UK)
|leader = John Major
|seats = 165
|gain = 0
|loss = 178
|net = - 178
|votes = 9,600,943
|votes % = 30.7
|seats % = 25.0
|plus/minus = - 11.2
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
|leader = Paddy Ashdown
|seats = 46
|gain = 30
|loss = 2
|net = + 28
|votes = 5,242,947
|votes % = 16.8
|seats % = 7.0
|plus/minus = - 1.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Referendum Party
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 811,849
|votes % = 2.6
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Scottish National Party
|seats = 6
|gain = 3
|loss = 0
|net = + 3
|votes = 621,550
|votes % = 2.0
|seats % = 0.9
|plus/minus = + 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Ulster Unionist Party
|seats = 10
|gain = [[West Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|loss = 0
|net = +1
|votes = 258,349
|votes % = 0.8
|seats % = 1.5
|plus/minus = 0.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
|seats = 3
|gain = 0
|loss = [[Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|net = - 1
|votes = 190,814
|votes % = 0.6
|seats % = 0.5
|plus/minus = + 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Plaid Cymru
|seats = 4
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 161,030
|votes % = 0.5
|seats % = 0.6
|plus/minus = 0.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Sinn Féin
|seats = 2
|gain = 2
|loss = 0
|net = + 2
|votes = 126,921
|votes % = 0.4
|seats % = 0.3
|plus/minus = 0.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Democratic Unionist Party
|seats = 2
|gain = 0
|loss = [[Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|net = - 1
|votes = 107,348
|votes % = 0.3
|seats % = 0.3
|plus/minus = 0.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = United Kingdom Independence Party
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 105,722
|votes % = 0.3
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Independent (politician)
|seats = [[Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|gain = [[Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|loss = 0
|net = + 1
|votes = 64,482
|votes % = 0.1
|seats % = 0.2
|plus/minus = 0.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Green Party of England and Wales
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 63,991
|votes % = 0.3
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.2
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 62,972
|votes % = 0.2
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = 0.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Socialist Labour Party (UK)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 52,109
|votes % = 0.2
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Liberal Party (UK, 1989)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 45,166
|votes % = 0.1
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = British National Party
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 35,832
|votes % = 0.1
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = 0.0
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Natural Law Party
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 30,604
|votes % = 0.1
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Speaker of the British House of Commons
|seats = [[West Bromwich West (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|gain = 1
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 23,969
|votes % = 0.1
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus =
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Prolife Alliance
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 19,332
|votes % = 0.1
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = UK Unionist Party
|seats = [[North Down (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|gain = [[North Down (UK Parliament constituency)|1]]
|loss = 0
|net = + 1
|votes = 12,817
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.2
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Progressive Unionist Party
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 10,928
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = National Democrats (UK)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 10,829
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Socialist Party (England and Wales)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 9,906
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Scottish Socialist Alliance
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 9,740
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Independent Labour
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 9,233
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Independent Conservative
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 8,608
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Official Monster Raving Loony Party
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 7,906
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 3,745
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 3,024
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Workers Party (Ireland)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 2,766
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = National Front (UK)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 2,716
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Legalise Cannabis Alliance
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 2,085
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = [[People's Labour Party (UK)|People's Labour]]
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,995
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Mebyon Kernow
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,906
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = [[Conservatives Against the Single Currency|Conservative Anti-Euro]]
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,434
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Socialist Party of Great Britain
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,359
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = [[Community Representative Party|Community Representative]]
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,290
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = [[Residents Association]]
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,263
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,246
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = - 0.1
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Workers Revolutionary Party (UK)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,178
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = [[Real Labour]]
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 1,117
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = Independent Democratic
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 982
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus =
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = Independent Liberal Democrat
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 890
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus =
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Communist Party of Britain
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 639
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus =
}}
{{Election Summary|
|party = Independent Green
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 593
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus =
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Green Party of Northern Ireland
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 539
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus =
}}
{{Election Summary Party|
|party = Socialist Equality Party (UK)
|seats = 0
|gain = 0
|loss = 0
|net = 0
|votes = 505
|votes % = 0.0
|seats % = 0.0
|plus/minus =
}}
|}

''Total votes cast: 31,286,284. 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.''

''Turnout: 71.2%''

''The [[Ulster Popular Unionist Party|Popular Unionist]] MP elected in 1992 died in 1995 and the party folded shortly afterwards.''

''There was no incumbent Speaker in the 1992 election.''

==See also==
*[[MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1997]].

==Manifestos==
*[http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/man/lab97.htm Labour (new Labour because Britain deserves better)]
*[http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/man/con97.htm Conservative (You can only be sure with the Conservatives)]
*[http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/e97/man/ld97man.htm Liberal Democrats (Make the Difference)]

==External links==
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/election97/frameset.htm BBC Election Website]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdKexAVIUY4 Video of the iconic moment at which Conservative Michael Portillo lost his seat to Labour's Stephen Twigg]
*[http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/man/man97.htm 1997 election manifestos] - Link to 1997 election manifestos of various parties.
* [http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((RefNo='general')AND(RefNo='election')AND(RefNo='1997')) Catalogue of 1997 general election ephemera] at the [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/Default.htm Archives Division] of the [[London School of Economics]].

{{British elections}}

[[Category:United Kingdom general elections|1997]]
[[Category:1997 elections in the United Kingdom]]

[[cy:Etholiad cyffredinol y Deyrnas Unedig, 1997]]
[[de:Britische Unterhauswahlen 1997]]
[[no:Parlamentsvalget i Storbritannia 1997]]
[[pl:Wybory parlamentarne w Wielkiej Brytanii w 1997 roku]]
[[sh:Opći izbori u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu 1997]]
[[sv:Parlamentsvalet i Storbritannien 1997]]

Revision as of 19:37, 9 April 2008

1987 election • MPs
1992 election • MPs
1997 election • MPs
2001 election • MPs
2005 election • MPs

The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997. The Labour Party won the general election in a landslide victory with 418 seats, the most seats the party has ever held. The Conservatives ended up with 165 seats, the fewest seats they have held since the 1906 General Election, and with no MPs for seats in Scotland and Wales. This marked the beginning of what has become the longest spell in opposition for the Conservative Party since the 19th century, as well as the longest spell in government ever for the Labour Party.

The Campaign

Prime Minister John Major obtained a dissolution on Monday 17 March 1997 - so ensuring the formal campaign would be unusually long, at six weeks. It was stated at the time by Conservatives that a long campaign would expose Labour and allow the Conservative message to be heard. In fact the Conservative campaign was quickly blown off course when 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 an election. Labour also had their difficulties - in particular an argument about whether or not the party would privatise the air traffic control system, and over the party's relationship with the trade unions.

By the middle of campaign, the large number of Conservative candidates became a key issue, including some serving ministers, who publicly repudiated government policy on the European single currency. Labour were cautious about this issue, but the symbolism of the deeply divided Conservative party helped them still.

In the final stages of the campaign, Labour concentrated heavily on projecting an image of Tony Blair as a dynamic and energetic young leader while the Conservatives were seen to indulge in infighting - with the-then Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke describing the views of the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, on Europe as "paranoid nonsense".

Overall picture and background

Labour won a landslide victory with their largest parliamentary majority (179) to date, Professor Anthony King describing the election as being like "an asteroid hitting the planet and destroying practically all life on earth". The Liberal Democrat vote fell, but in terms of seats, it was their best General Election since 1929 under David Lloyd George's leadership. A heavy defeat for the Conservative Party, but not a wipeout, with the party having its lowest percentage share of the popular vote since 1832 under the Duke of Wellington's leadership, being left with no seats outside England. Several prominent members of the party also lost their seats, including:

The poor results for the Conservative Party led to infighting, with the One Nation 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 it 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 leave the stage".

Labour's victory was largely credited to the charisma of Tony Blair and a slick Labour public relations machine managed by Alastair Campbell. 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. Famously, in the early hours of 2 May 1997 a party was held at the Royal Festival Hall, in which Blair stated triumphantly "A new dawn has broken, has it not?".

The Referendum Party, which sought a referendum on Britain's relationship with the European Union, came fourth in terms of votes with 800,000 votes mainly from former Conservative voters, but won no seats in parliament. 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 duly did with a comfortable margin.

The result declared for the constituency of Winchester showed a margin of victory of just 2 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.

Results

The election was fought under new boundaries, with a net increase of eight seats compared to the 1992 election. Changes listed here are from the notional 1992, result had it been fought on the boundaries established in 1997. These notional results were used by all media organisations at the time.

Tony Blair, leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition.
John Major, leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister.
Paddy Ashdown, leader of the Liberal Democrats.
UK General Election 1997
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 418 147 0 + 147 63.4 43.2 13,518,167 + 8.8
  Conservative 165 0 178 - 178 25.0 30.7 9,600,943 - 11.2
  Liberal Democrats 46 30 2 + 28 7.0 16.8 5,242,947 - 1.0
  Referendum 0 0 0 0 0.0 2.6 811,849 N/A
  SNP 6 3 0 + 3 0.9 2.0 621,550 + 0.1
  UUP 10 1 0 +1 1.5 0.8 258,349 0.0
  SDLP 3 0 1 - 1 0.5 0.6 190,814 + 0.1
  Plaid Cymru 4 0 0 0 0.6 0.5 161,030 0.0
  Sinn Féin 2 2 0 + 2 0.3 0.4 126,921 0.0
  DUP 2 0 1 - 1 0.3 0.3 107,348 0.0
  UKIP 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.3 105,722 N/A
  Independent 1 1 0 + 1 0.2 0.1 64,482 0.0
  Green 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.3 63,991 - 0.2
  Alliance 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.2 62,972 0.0
  Socialist Labour 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.2 52,109 N/A
  Liberal 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 45,166 - 0.1
  BNP 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 35,832 0.0
  Natural Law 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 30,604 - 0.1
  Speaker 1 1 0 0 0.0 0.1 23,969
  Prolife Alliance 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 19,332 N/A
  UK Unionist 1 1 0 + 1 0.2 0.0 12,817 N/A
  PUP 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 10,928 N/A
  National Democrats 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 10,829 N/A
  Socialist Alternative 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 9,906 N/A
  Scottish Socialist 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 9,740 N/A
  Independent Labour 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 9,233 - 0.1
  Ind. Conservative 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 8,608 - 0.1
  Monster Raving Loony 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 7,906 - 0.1
  Rainbow Dream Ticket 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3,745 N/A
  NI Women's Coalition 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3,024 N/A
  Workers' Party 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2,766 - 0.1
  National Front 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2,716 N/A
  Legalise Cannabis 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2,085 N/A
  People's Labour 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,995 N/A
  Mebyon Kernow 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,906 N/A
  Conservative Anti-Euro 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,434 N/A
  Socialist (GB) 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,359 N/A
  Community Representative 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,290 N/A
  Residents Association 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,263 N/A
  SDP 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,246 - 0.1
  Workers Revolutionary 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,178 N/A
  Real Labour 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1,117 N/A
  Independent Democratic 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 982
  Independent Liberal Democrat 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 890
  Communist 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 639
  Independent Green 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 593
  Green (NI) 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 539
  Socialist Equality 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 505

Total votes cast: 31,286,284. 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.

Turnout: 71.2%

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.

See also

Manifestos

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