2010 United Kingdom general election

{{ukpolitics}}
The '''2010 UK general election''' is widely remembered for marking the end of thirteen years of [[Labour Party|Labour]] rule and the start of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] dominance which continued until their own demise in [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]]. It also produced the first Coalition government since 1945 and marked the start of the 'Austerity era' for British politics. This election was also notable for hosting the first 'Leader's Debates' on live television<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8612153.stm Why 2010 will see the first TV leaders election debate ] ''BBC News'', 10 April 2010</ref>, featuring the first time since 1979 an 'all-new' leader slate for the three major parties, as well as the zenith for the [[Liberal Democrat]]s before imploding and reversing fifty years of patient rebuilding as a major political force.

==Background==
Labour's third term was not a happy one. The feud between Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] and his Chancellor [[Gordon Brown]] reached a point senior party figures warned it might lose them the next election,<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20110211130958/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-402966/Blair-Brown-feud-lose-election-says-Clarke.html Blair-Brown feud may lose us election, says Clarke] ''Daily Mail'', 31 August 2006</ref> the [[Iraq War]] had created a running sore with the left of the Party, creeping [[authoritarianism]] in regards to 'law and order' topics<ref>[https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2008/12/home-secretary-police-blunkett Labour’s illiberal home secretaries] ''New Statesman'', 15 December 2008</ref> was raising the ire of [[social liberal]]s while some 1.5m '[[EU]] migrants<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/17/eastern-european-uk-migrants Young, self-reliant, educated: portrait of UK's eastern European migrants] ''The Guardian'', 17 January 2010</ref>' was giving the likes of [[UKIP]] and the [[BNP]] political space to nibble Labour's [[Working class|working-class]] flank. Worse, the Conservatives had chosen [[David Cameron]] as their new leader; a man who appeared fairly mainstream in social views and on his first outing mocked Blair 'for being the future, once'.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/dec/08/uk.houseofcommons Tories hail leader after Commons tussle with Blair] ''The Guardian'', 8 December 2005</ref> Not the greatest political legacy Blair left for his successor in No 10 in 2007, though not like he'd admit that<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/news/blair-reveals-feud-with-brown-1.863452 Blair reveals feud with Brown] ''Irish Times'', 1 September 2010</ref>.

But after years of increasingly impatient waiting for the top job, Brown got precious little a honeymoon&nbsp;– the contagion of the 'credit crunch' was already swirling, and promptly caused the first British 'bank run' since 1866 with Northern Rock<ref>[https://www.channel4.com/news/the-great-northern-rock-bank-run The great Northern Rock bank run] ''Channel 4 News'', 17 September 2007</ref>. Not good for a man who'd been effectively [[New Labour|New Labour's]] 'economic overlord' for a decade and had put so much of his political stock of being [[Fiscal responsibility|responsible]] and competent&nbsp;– scotching hopes that the initial bounce in the polls would prove permanent. Eighteen months and several more bailouts later,<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/163-850bn-official-cost-of-the-bank-bailout-1833830.html £850bn: official cost of the bank bailout] ''The Independent'', 4 December 2009</ref> the [[Great Recession]] was in full force, the national debt burden was the highest since the 1960s and the Conservatives were enjoying polling margins unseen since [[Margaret Thatcher]] twenty years previous.

Other events of note included the worst [[terrorist]] attack in the UK in a generation&nbsp;— the '[[7 July 2005 London bombings|7/7 bombings]]'<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33253598 7 July London bombings: What happened that day?] ''BBC News'', 3 July 2015</ref> a relatively minor '[[Swine flu|Swine Flu]]' [[pandemic]] (with the retrospective claims it was 'over-responded to',<ref>[https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/how-far-did-the-uk-government-over-respond-to-the-2009-threat-of-swine-flu/ How far did the UK government over-respond to the 2009 threat of Swine Flu?] ''LSE Blogs'', 18 October 2010</ref> which may have have damaged the British response in the [[COVID-19 pandemic|next pandemic]]), the assassination of FSB defector Alexander Litvinenko by [[Russian]] agents in London<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17246562 Litvinenko assassins likely to escape justice] ''NBC News'', 25 February 2007</ref> and a pair of political scandals – {{wpl|Cash for Honours scandal|'Cash for Honours'}}<ref group=note>'Honours' in this case referring to various titles and awards which is within the gift of the government to dole out.</ref> and the [[House_of Commons#Expenses scandal|Parliamentary 'Expenses Scandal']] both of which damaged the reputation of the political class in general. Oh, and the first [[climate change]] legislation was passed.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070316100849/http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2355960.ece A Bill which makes reducing carbon emissions a legal duty] ''The Independent'', 14 March 2007</ref>

==Campaign==
The three main parties had rather similar manifestos; the Conservatives had 'detoxified' the brand enough that many voters didn't really know what it stood for socially, the Liberal Democrats had somewhat lurched rightwards under [[Nick Clegg]] and Labour ran a 'stay the current course' message as the incumbents. All three also agreed on governmental 'Austerity' being necessary, the only debate on 'how far', 'where' and 'when' the cuts would be (thus leaving the concept of [[neoliberal]] [[economics]] unchallenged). This led to the somewhat confusing situation of where the three main leaders spent much time apparently agreeing with each other. Yeah, it was rather dull and a little melancholic. Perhaps the only really interesting event was when Brown was caught in a 'hot mic' situation, describing an ex-Labour voter in private as 'a [[bigot]]' after she complained over immigration using talking-points pushed by a certain [[Nigel Farage|Mr Farage]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8649448.stm How Gordon Brown 'bigot' jibe row unfolded ] ''BBC News'', 28 April 2010</ref>

The polls between Labour and the Conservatives closed somewhat in the final months, leading to the possibility of a 'hung Parliament'. Then the 'wild card' came into play; the Liberal Democrats shot up ten points after the first debate, predominately from the Conservatives. This, along with higher-than usual polling for minor parties meant it was more difficult than ever to predict successfully the outcome.

==Results==
[[File:House of Commons (Start of 55th Parliament).svg|thumb|right|300px|Post-election composition of the [[House of Commons]].]]
The exit polling was correct; Conservatives were the largest party, but were denied a 'working majority' (18 short).<ref group=note>Though it would have been possible (though somewhat difficult) for the Conservatives to go it alone as a 'minority government' as the opposition parties were split.</ref> The drop in Liberal Democrat support (vs. the earlier polling) was surprising to some, but the drop in seats somewhat predictable with a general surge in Conservative support (due to the fact most Liberal seats had the Conservatives as the main opponent). It was an election for [[reactionaries]] and [[fascists]]; UKIP managed to increase their vote by a third and the BNP enjoying their own zenith… of 1.9% of the national vote. Didn't score them any seats, though. On the other hand, the Greens managed to gain a single seat. Due to another boundary review, the total number of seats increased by 4 since [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]], meaning that the numbers don't exactly add up<ref group=note>Every 10-15 years constituency boundaries are revised, to keep them roughly equal electorate-wise. This is ''not'' [[gerrymandering]], as the review is done by a nonpolitical body.</ref>.

After a few days' discussion, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats announced a coalition agreement, formally ending thirteen years of the 'New Labour' project<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10518842 The rise and fall of New Labour] ''BBC News'', 3 August 2010</ref>.

[[File:2010 UK General Election Winner%.svg|thumb|right|500px|Results map.]]

{| class="wikitable"

! Turnout: 65.1% (+3.7%) !! Seats !! Change !! Vote % !! Change
|-
| <u>'''Conservatives'''</u> || '''306''' || <span style="color:green">'''+108'''</span> || '''36.1''' || <span style="color:green">'''+3.7'''</span>
|-
| <u>'''Labour'''</u> || '''258''' || <span style="color:red">'''-97'''</span> || '''29.0''' || <span style="color:red">'''-6.2'''</span>
|-
| <u>'''Liberal Democrats'''</u> || '''57''' || <span style="color:red">'''-5'''</span> || '''23.0''' || <span style="color:green">'''+1.0'''</span>
|-
| <u>'''Other'''</u> || '''29''' || '''-2''' || '''15.6''' || '''+5.2'''
|}

[[File:2010 UK general election constituency map.svg|thumb|left|225px|Map showing constituencies as equal area to better indicate the number of seats.]]

{{clear}}

==External links==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/default.stm BBC 'Election 2010' website], still (mainly) functional.

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|3|80%}}

[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:British politics]]
[[Category:UK general elections]]

Categories: Elections, British politics, UK general elections