2001 United Kingdom general election

United Kingdom general election, 2001
← outgoing members elected members →
All 659 seats to the House of Commons; 330 seats needed for a majority
	Opinion polls
Turnout	59.4% (11.9%)
	Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
Prime Minister before election; Tony Blair; Labour	Appointed Prime Minister ; Tony Blair; Labour

The 2001 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 June 2001, four years after the previous election on 1 May 1997, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. Under the leadership of Tony Blair, the governing Labour Party was re-elected to serve a second term in government with another landslide victory, returning 413 of the 418 seats won by the party in the previous general election, a net loss of 5 seats, though with significantly lower turnout than before—59.4%, compared to 71.3% in the previous election. Tony Blair went on to become the first Labour Prime Minister to serve a consecutive full term in office. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media.^[1]

There was little change outside Northern Ireland, with 620 out of the 641 seats electing candidates from the same party as they did in 1997. Factors contributing to the Labour victory were a strong economy and falling unemployment, as well as that Labour was seen as having delivered on many key election pledges that it had made in 1997.

The Conservative Party, under William Hague's leadership, was still deeply divided on the issue of Europe and the party's policy platform was considered to have shifted to a right wing focus. Hague was also hindered by a series of embarrassing publicity stunts, and resigned as party leader three months later, becoming the first leader of the Conservative or Unionist party in the House of Commons since Austen Chamberlain to not also be Prime Minister.

The election was essentially a repeat of the 1997 election, with Labour losing only 6 seats overall and the Conservatives making a net gain of one seat (gaining nine seats, but losing eight). The Conservatives did manage to gain a seat in Scotland, which ended the party's status as an 'England-only' party in the prior parliament, but once again were left unrepresented in Wales. Although they did not gain many seats, one of the new MPs elected was future Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. The Liberal Democrats gained six seats.

The 2001 election is the last to date in which any government has held an overall majority of more than 100 seats in the House of Commons, and one of only two since the Second World War (the other being 1997) in which one party won over 400 MPs. It was also the last election at which Labour secured over 40% of the popular vote until the snap election in 2017.

Change was seen in Northern Ireland, with the moderately unionist Ulster Unionist Party losing four seats to the more hardline Democratic Unionist Party. This transition was mirrored in the nationalist community with the moderate SDLP losing votes to the more staunchly republican and abstentionist Sinn Féin.

The election was also marked with exceptionally low voter turnout, falling below 60% for the first (and so far, only) time since 1918.^[2] The election was broadcast live on the BBC, and presented by Jeremy Paxman, Andrew Marr, Peter Snow and David Dimbleby.^[3]

Overview

The election had been expected on 3 May, to coincide with local elections, but both were postponed because of rural movement restrictions imposed in response to the foot and mouth outbreak.

The elections were marked by voter apathy, with turnout falling to 59.4%, the lowest since the Coupon Election of 1918. Throughout the election the Labour Party had maintained a significant lead in the opinion polls and the result was deemed to be so certain that some bookmakers paid out for a Labour majority before the election day.

However, the opinion polls the previous autumn had shown the first Tory lead (though only by a narrow margin) in the opinion polls for eight years as they benefited from the public anger towards the government over the fuel protests which had led to a severe shortage of motor fuel.

By the end of 2000, however, the dispute had been solved and Labour were firmly back in the lead of the opinion polls.^[4] In total, a mere 29 parliamentary seats changed hands at the 2001 Election.^[5]

One of the more noted events of a quiet campaign was when countryside protester Craig Evans threw an egg at Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in Rhyl; Prescott then punched him and a struggle ensued, in front of television cameras.

2001 also saw the rare election of an independent. Dr. Richard Taylor of Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern (usually now known simply as "Health Concern") unseated a government minister. There was also a high vote for British National Party leader Nick Griffin in Oldham, in the wake of recent race riots in the town.

In Northern Ireland, the election was far more dramatic and marked a move by unionists away from support for the Good Friday Agreement, with the moderate unionist Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) losing to the more hardline Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This polarisation was also seen in the nationalist community, with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) vote losing out to more left-wing and republican Sinn Féin. It also saw a tightening of the parties as the small UK Unionist Party lost its only seat.

Campaign

For Labour, the last four years had run relatively smoothly. The party had successfully defended all their by election seats, and many suspected a Labour win was inevitable from the start.

Many in the party however were afraid of voter apathy, which was epitomised in the "Hague with Lady Thatcher's hair" poster.^[6] Despite recessions in mainland Europe and the United States, due to the bursting of global tech bubbles, Britain was notably unaffected and Labour however could rely on a strong economy as unemployment continued to decline toward election day, putting to rest any fears of a Labour government putting the economic situation at risk.

For William Hague, however, the Conservative Party had still not fully recovered from the loss in 1997. The party was still divided over Europe, and talk of a referendum on joining the Eurozone was rife. As Labour remained at the political centre, the Tories moved to the right. A policy gaffe by Oliver Letwin over public spending cuts left the party with an own goal that Labour soon took advantage of.

Margaret Thatcher also added to Hague's troubles when speaking out strongly against the Euro to applause. Hague himself, although a witty performer at PMQs, was dogged in the press and reminded of his speech at Conservative conference at the age of 16. The Sun newspaper only added to the Conservatives woes by backing Labour once again, calling Hague a "dead parrot".^[7]

The Tories campaigned on a strongly right-wing platform, emphasising the issues of Europe, immigration and tax, the fabled "Tebbit Trinity". However, Labour countered by asking where the proposed tax cuts were going to come from, and decried the Tory policy as "cut here, cut there, cut everywhere", in reference to the widespread belief that the Conservatives would make major cuts to public services in order to fund tax cuts.

For the Liberal Democrats, this was the first election for leader Charles Kennedy.^[8]

Controversy

During the election Sharron Storer, a resident of Birmingham, criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair in front of television cameras about conditions in the National Health Service. The widely televised incident happened on 16 May during a campaign visit by Blair to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Sharron Storer's partner, Keith Sedgewick, a cancer patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and therefore highly susceptible to infection, was being treated at the time in the bone marrow unit, but no bed could be found for him and he was transferred to the casualty unit for his first 24 hours.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Opinion polling

Results

The election result was effectively a repeat of 1997, as the Labour Party retained an overwhelming majority with BBC announcing the victory at 02:58 on the early morning of the 8th June. Having presided over relatively serene political, economic and social conditions, the feeling of prosperity in the United Kingdom had been maintained into the new millennium, and Labour would have a free hand to assert its ideals in the subsequent parliament. Despite the victory, voter apathy was a major issue, as turnout fell below 60%, 12% down on 1997. All of the 3 main parties saw their total votes fall, with Labour's total vote dropping by 2.8 million on 1997, the Conservatives 1.3 million, and the Liberal Democrats 428,000. Some suggested this dramatic fall was a sign of the general acceptance of the status quo and the likelihood of Labour's majority remaining unassailable.^[12]

For the Conservatives, this huge loss they had sustained in 1997 was repeated. Despite gaining 9 seats the Tories lost 7 to the Liberal Democrats, and one even to Labour. The inevitable result was the speedy resignation of William Hague in the election aftermath resigning at 07:44 outside the Conservative Party headquarters. Some believed that Hague had been unlucky, although most considered him to be a talented orator and an intelligent statesman, he had come up against the charismatic Tony Blair in the peak of his political career, and it was no surprise that little progress was made in reducing Labour's majority after a relatively smooth parliament.

Staying at what they considered rock bottom however showed that the Conservatives had failed to improve their negative public image, had remained somewhat disunited over Europe and had not regained the trust that they had lost in the 1990s. But in Scotland, despite gaining one seat from the SNP, their vote collapse continued. They failed to retake former strongholds in Scotland as the Nationalists consolidated their grip on the Northeastern portion of the country.^[13]

The Liberal Democrats could point to steady progress under Charles Kennedy, gaining more seats than the main two parties – albeit only six overall – and maintaining the performance of a pleasing 1997 election, where the party had doubled its number of seats from 20 to 46. While they had yet to become electable as a government, they underlined their growing reputation as a worthwhile alternative to Labour and Conservative, offering plenty of debate in parliament and not just representing a protest vote.^{[citation needed]}

The SNP failed to gain any seats and lost a seat to the Conservatives by just 79 votes. Plaid Cymru both gained a seat from Labour and lost one to them.

In Northern Ireland the Ulster Unionists, despite gaining North Down, lost 5 other seats.

↓
style="background:Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color; width:62.7%;" \| 413	style="background:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color; width:25.2%;" \| 166	style="background:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color; width:7.9%;" \| 52	28
Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem	O

UK General Election 2001
			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Labour	Tony Blair	640	413	2	8	−6	62.5	40.7	10,724,953	−2.5
	Conservative	William Hague	643	166	9	8	+1	25.2	31.65	8,357,615	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Kennedy	639	52	8	2	+6	7.9	18.3	4,814,321	+1.5
	SNP	John Swinney	72	5	0	1	−1	0.8	1.8	464,314	−0.2
	UKIP	Jeffrey Titford	428	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	390,563	1.2
	UUP	David Trimble	17	6	1	5	−4	0.9	0.8	216,839	0.0
	Plaid Cymru	Ieuan Wyn Jones	40	4	1	1	0	0.6	0.7	195,893	+0.2
	DUP	Ian Paisley	14	5	3	0	+3	0.8	0.7	181,999	+0.4
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	18	4	2	0	+2	0.6	0.7	175,933	+0.3
	SDLP	John Hume	18	3	0	0	0	0.5	0.6	169,865	0.0
	Green	Margaret Wright and Mike Woodin	145	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.6	166,477	+0.3
	Independent	N/A	136	0	0	1	−1	0.0	0.4	97,070	+0.3
	Scottish Socialist	Tommy Sheridan	72	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	72,516	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	N/A	98	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	57,553	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Arthur Scargill	114	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	57,288	0.0
	BNP	Nick Griffin	33	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	47,129	+0.1
	Alliance	Seán Neeson	10	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	28,999	−0.1
	Health Concern	Richard Taylor	1	1	1	0	+1	0.2	0.1	28,487	N/A
	Liberal	Michael Meadowcroft	13	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	13,685	0.0
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney	1	0	0	1	−1	0.0	0.1	13,509	+0.1
	ProLife Alliance	Bruno Quintavalle	37	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	9,453	−0.1
	Legalise Cannabis	Alun Buffry	13	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	8,677	N/A
	People's Justice	Shaukat Ali Khan	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	7,443	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope and Catmando	15	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	6,655	0.0
	PUP	Hugh Smyth	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	4,781	0.0
	Mebyon Kernow	Dick Cole	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	3,199	0.0
	NI Women's Coalition	Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,968	0.0
	Scottish Unionist Party (modern)	Danny Houston	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,728	N/A
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Chris Driver	7	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,634	N/A
	National Front	Tom Holmes	5	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,484	0.0
	Workers' Party of Ireland	Seán Garland	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,352	0.0
	Neath Port Talbot Ratepayers	Paul Evans	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,960	N/A
	NI Unionist	Cedric Wilson	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,794	N/A
	Socialist Alternative	Peter Taaffe	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,454	0.0
	Reform 2000	Erol Basarik	5	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,418	N/A
	Isle of Wight	Philip Murray	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,164	N/A
	Muslim		4	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,150	N/A
	Communist	Robert Griffiths	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,003	0.0
	New Britain	Dennis Delderfield	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	888	0.0
	Free Party	Bob Dobbs	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	832	N/A
	Leeds Left Alliance	Mike Davies	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	770	N/A
	New Millennium Bean Party	Captain Beany	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	727	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	Sheila Torrance	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	607	0.0
	Tatton	Paul Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	505	N/A

Government's new majority	167
Total votes cast	26,367,383
Turnout	59.4%

All parties with more than 500 votes shown.

The seat gains reflect changes on the 1997 general election result. Two seats had changed hands in by-elections in the intervening period. These were as follows:

Romsey from Conservative to Liberal Democrats. This seat stayed Liberal Democrat in 2001.
South Antrim from Ulster Unionists to Democratic Unionists. This seat reverted to the Ulster Unionists in 2001.

The results of the election give a Gallagher index of dis-proportionality of 17.74.

Popular vote

Labour			40.7%
Conservative			31.7%
Liberal Democrat			18.3%
Scottish National			1.8%
UK Independence			1.5%
Others			6.1%

Parliamentary seats

Labour			62.7%
Conservative			25.2%
Liberal Democrat			7.9%
Ulster Unionist			0.9%
Scottish National			0.8%
Democratic Unionist			0.8%
Others			1.8%

Results by constituent country

	LAB	CON	LD	SNP	PC	NI parties	Others	Total
England	323	165	40	-	-	-	1	533
Wales	34	-	2	-	4	-	-	40
Scotland	56	1	10	5	-	-	-	72
Northern Ireland	-	-	-	-	-	18	-	18
Total	413	166	52	5	4	18	1	659

Seats changing hands

Seat	1997 election		Constituency result 2001 by party						2001 election
Seat	1997 election		Con	Lab	Lib	PC	SNP	Others	2001 election
Belfast North		UUP								DUP gain
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr		Labour	4,912	13,540	2,815	16,130		656		Plaid Cymru gain
Castle Point		Labour	17,738	16,753	3,116			1273		Conservative gain
Cheadle		Conservative	18,444	6,086	18,477			599		Liberal Democrats gain
Chesterfield		Labour	3,613	18,663	21,249			437		Liberal Democrats gain
Dorset Mid and Poole North		Conservative	17,974	6,765	18,358			621		Liberal Democrats gain
Dorset South		Conservative	18,874	19,027	6,531			913		Labour gain
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		UUP								Sinn Féin gain
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale		SNP	12,222	7,258	3,698		12,148	588		Conservative gain
Guildford		Conservative	19,820	6,558	20,358			736		Liberal Democrats gain
Isle of Wight		Liberal Democrats	25,223	9,676	22,397			2,106		Conservative gain
Londonderry East		UUP								DUP gain
Ludlow		Conservative	16,990	5,785	18,620			871		Liberal Democrats gain
Newark		Labour	20,983	16,910	5,970					Conservative gain
Norfolk North		Conservative	23,495	7,490	23,978			649		Liberal Democrats gain
Norfolk North West		Labour	24,846	21,361	4,292			704		Conservative gain
North Down		UK Unionist								UUP gain
Romford		Labour	18,931	12,954	2,869					Conservative gain
Romsey		Conservative	20,386	3,986	22,756					Liberal Democrats gain
Strangford		UUP								DUP gain
Tatton		Independent	19,860	11,249	7,685					Conservative gain
Taunton		Liberal Democrats	23,033	8,254	22,798			1,140		Conservative gain
Teignbridge		Conservative	23,332	7,366	26,343					Liberal Democrats gain
Tyrone West		UUP								Sinn Féin gain
Upminster		Labour	15,410	14,169	3,183			1,089		Conservative gain
Wyre Forest		Labour	9,350	10,857				28,487		Independent gain
Ynys Mon		Plaid Cymru	7,653	11,906	2,772	11,106				Labour gain

MPs that lost their seats

Party		Name	Constituency	Office held whilst in power	Year elected	Defeated by	Party
rowspan=7 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Labour Party	Alan Wynne Williams	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr		1987	Adam Price	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Plaid Cymru/meta/color" \|	Plaid Cymru
Christine Butler		Castle Point		1997	Dr. Bob Spink	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party
Fiona Jones		Newark		1997	Colonel Patrick Mercer OBE	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party
George Turner		Norfolk North West		1997	Henry Bellingham	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party
Eileen Gordon		Romford		1997	Andrew Rosindell	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party
Keith Darvill		Upminster		1997	Angela Watkinson	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party
David Lock		Wyre Forest		1997	Dr. Richard Taylor	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern/meta/color" \|	Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern
rowspan=6 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party	Stephen Day	Cheadle		1987	Patsy Calton	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Democrats
Christopher Fraser		Mid Dorset and North Poole		1997	Annette Brooke	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Democrats
Ian Bruce		Dorset South		1987	Jim Knight	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Labour Party
Nick St Aubyn		Guildford		1997	Sue Doughty	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Democrats
The Hon. David Prior		Norfolk North		1997	Norman Lamb	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Democrats
Patrick Nicholls		Teignbridge		1983	Richard Younger-Ross	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Democrats
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Democrats	Dr. Peter Brand	Isle of Wight		1997	Andrew Turner	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party
Jackie Ballard	Liberal Democrats	Taunton		1997	Adrian Flook	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party
rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/color" \|	Ulster Unionist Party	Willie Ross	East Londonderry		1974	Gregory Campbell	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" \|	Democratic Unionist Party
Cecil Walker		North Belfast		1983	Nigel Dodds OBE	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" \|	Democratic Unionist Party
William Thompson		West Tyrone		1997	Pat Doherty	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" \|	Sinn Féin
rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" \|	Democratic Unionist Party	William McCrea	Antrim South		2000	David Burnside	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/color" \|	Ulster Unionist Party
rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:UK Unionist Party/meta/color" \|	UK Unionist Party	Robert McCartney	North Down		1995	Lady Hermon	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/color" \|	Ulster Unionist Party
rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color" \|	Independent	Martin Bell	Tatton contesting Brentwood and Ongar		1997	Eric Pickles	rowspan=1 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party

Manifestos

References

^ Parkinson, Justin (3 August 2010). "The rise and fall of New Labour". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
^ "Election Statistics: UK 1918–2007" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 1 February 2008. p. 18. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6weF6Q37F2w&feature=mfu_in_order&playnext=1&videos=UsHbCo8smUk%7C BBC Vote 2001 Coverage
^ "Tories 'to cut fuel duty'". BBC News. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
^ "2001: Labour claims second term". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
^ "Get out and vote. Or they get in". The Guardian. London.
^ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ThhguC97EdA/STaU-tJdVzI/AAAAAAAAASA/GVBGsJaLKAI/s400/PARROT-HAGUE.jpg
^ "2001: Labour claims second term". BBC News. 5 April 2005.
^ Duncan Watts (2006). British Government and Politics: A Comparative Guide. Edinburgh University. ISBN 978-0-7486-2323-5.
^ "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Ambush upset Blair's day".
^ "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Cancer patient's partner confronts Blair".
^ "The poll that never was". BBC News. 11 June 2001.
^ "Labour romps home again". BBC News. 8 June 2001.

Bibliography

Butler, David and Dennis Kavanagh. The British General Election of 2001 (2002), the standard scholarly study
General Election results, 7 June 2001 (Research Party 01/54), House of Commons Library

External links

BBC News: Vote 2001 – in depth coverage.
Catalogue of 2001 general election ephemera^{[permanent dead link‍]} at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics.
Election Night coverage All 34 parts uploaded onto YouTube

[1] Parkinson, Justin (3 August 2010). "The rise and fall of New Labour". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2015.

[2] "Election Statistics: UK 1918–2007" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 1 February 2008. p. 18. Retrieved 23 May 2014.

[3] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6weF6Q37F2w&feature=mfu_in_order&playnext=1&videos=UsHbCo8smUk%7C BBC Vote 2001 Coverage

[4] "Tories 'to cut fuel duty'". BBC News. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2015.

[5] "2001: Labour claims second term". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 26 May 2010.

[6] "Get out and vote. Or they get in". The Guardian. London.

[7] ttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ThhguC97EdA/STaU-tJdVzI/AAAAAAAAASA/GVBGsJaLKAI/s400/PARROT-HAGUE.jpg

[8] "2001: Labour claims second term". BBC News. 5 April 2005.

[9] Duncan Watts (2006). British Government and Politics: A Comparative Guide. Edinburgh University. ISBN 978-0-7486-2323-5.

[10] "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Ambush upset Blair's day".

[11] "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Cancer patient's partner confronts Blair".

[12] "The poll that never was". BBC News. 11 June 2001.

[13] "Labour romps home again". BBC News. 8 June 2001.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

v t e Elections and referendums in the United Kingdom
General elections	1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024 Next
Local elections	1889 1890 1892 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Referendums	1975 2011 2016
See also Elections in England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Great Britain

v t e Tony Blair
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997–2007) Leader of the Labour Party (1994–2007) Leader of the Opposition (1994–1997) MP for Sedgefield (1983–2007)
Politics	New Labour, New Life for Britain Premiership Blair ministry First, 1997–2001 Second, 2001–2005 Third, 2005–2007 Blair–Brown deal Electoral history Shadow Cabinet of Tony Blair 1999 British cabinet reshuffle Bush–Blair 2003 Iraq memo 2006 cabinet reshuffle
Ideology	Blairism New Labour Third Way
General elections	1997 2001 2005
Party election	1994
Shadow Cabinet elections	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Post-premiership	2007 Sedgefield by-election Tony Blair Institute for Global Change Quartet on the Middle East Africa Progress Panel Tony Blair Faith Foundation Commission for Africa
Books	A Journey
Related topics	Ugly Rumours Respect agenda Blatcherism Cool Britannia Blair Babes Tony's Cronies Iraq Inquiry People's princess Hand of history Tonibler
Family	Cherie Blair (wife) Euan Blair (son) Leo Blair (father) Nicky Blair (son) William Blair (brother)
← John Major Gordon Brown → Category

v t e William Hague
Politics	Shadow Cabinet Richmond (Yorks) 1989 by-election
Ideology	Compassionate conservatism
General election	2001
Party election	1997
Local elections	1998 1999 2000 2001
European elections	1999

v t e New Labour
Key figures	Tony Blair Gordon Brown Peter Mandelson Alastair Campbell Anthony Giddens Anthony Crosland Philip Gould David Sainsbury
Political ethos	Blairism Third Way Blatcherism Brownism
General elections	1997 2001 2005 2010 Post-election events
Leadership elections	1994 2007 2010
Government	Premiership of Tony Blair Blair I Blair II Blair III Chancellorship of Gordon Brown Premiership of Gordon Brown Brown
Publications	The Future of Socialism A Journey The Third Man The Blair Years The Purple Book
Funders	Michael Levy Trevor Chinn Alexander Bernstein Robert Gavron David Garrard
Related	One more heave Labour Co-ordinating Committee Blair–Brown deal Clause Four moment New Labour, New Life for Britain New Labour, New Danger "Things Can Only Get Better" "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" Progress Blair Babe Tony's Cronies Cash for Honours Future Britain Group Neoconservatism Labour Party (UK)
Category