1997 United Kingdom general election

{{ukpolitics}}
The '''1997 UK general election''' is mainly remembered for two things; the end of eighteen years of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] rule with a defeat so heavy that they had the fewest MPs since 1906 and lowest vote-share ever (until [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]] that is), and the installation of [[New Labour]] under [[Tony Blair]] which would last itself until [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]. It was also notable for the first [[internet]] coverage<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-parliaments-41111242 Election 97: The first online election] ''BBC News'', 4 September 2017</ref>, the best showing for a third party (the [[Liberal Democrats]]) since 1929 and bringing to power the youngest Prime Minister since 1812. It also gave Britons the first taste of modern, multi-angled political '[[spin]]' from slick willies like Alistair Campbell. Perhaps more ominously, it saw the [[Euroscepticism|anti-EU]] 'Referendum Party' garnish some 800,000 votes (about 2.6% of the total) nationally, which directly fed into the poisonous populists of [[UKIP]].

==Background==
After coming from behind to win a sneaky fourth victory in [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]], the Conservatives promptly tripped over on 'Black Wednesday'<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/sep/13/black-wednesday-20-years-pound-erm Black Wednesday 20 years on: how the day unfolded] ''The Guardian'', 13 September 2012</ref> – a situation which caused an devaluation of Sterling (netting [[George Soros]] $1 billion of the Bank of England's money) which finally trashed their reputation of 'being good with the [[economy]]' which extended the recession by perhaps six months and sent their poll numbers down by fifteen points. There it stayed, as [[John Major]] got to preside over a party increasingly unable to keep it's trousers up<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/the-yeo-resignation-minister-falls-foul-of-back-to-basics-policy-swift-demise-after-constituency-association-released-statement-1398284.html The Yeo Resignation: Minister falls foul of 'back to basics' policy: Swift demise after constituency association released statement] ''The Independent'', 6 January 1994.</ref>, [[Neil Hamilton|to say no to mysterious envelopes filled with cash]]<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1996/oct/01/conservatives.uk A lair and a cheat] ''The Guardian'', 1 October 1996.</ref>, to realise when they were being tone-deaf<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/12/politics-sleaze Ah, I remember this sickly smell of sleaze] ''The Guardian'', 12 April 2009</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20220814060721/https://tidesofhistory.com/2017/12/23/sex-lies-and-hypocrisy-the-last-time-sleaze-brought-down-the-tories/ Sex, Lies and Hypocrisy: The last time Sleaze brought down the Tories] ''Tides of History'', 23 December 2017</ref> or from knifing each other over '[[Euroscepticism|Europe]]'<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-24-mn-16358-story.html Major Wins Confidence Vote on Europe Treaty] ''Los Angeles Times'', 24 July 1993</ref> (which with hindsight, was the prelude to the political war which became [[Brexit]]). Major's work also grew correspondingly harder through the Parliament, as his original majority of 21 was slowly whittled down by defections, deaths and resignations that by 1996 he'd lost his majority and was dependent on the Ulster Unionists on avoiding total governmental collapse.

A major 'black swan' in this story was the sudden death of the new Labour leader [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_(Labour_Party_leader) John Smith]<ref group=note>Taking over from Neil Kinnock after his resignation after his 1992 defeat.</ref> in 1994 which elevated Tony Blair into the slot; young, charismatic and promptly deploying [[Third Way|the whole toolkit]] developed to get [[Bill Clinton]] into the White House [[1992 United States presidential election|two years previous]]. The levels of ''how'' effective this rebrand/orientation was on electoral electoral success is often bitterly debated down sectarian lines - with the 'Blairites' arguing that it was this [[Great man theory|'wot won it' alone]]<ref>[https://thecritic.co.uk/how-blair-won-over-conservative-britain/ How Blair won over Conservative Britain] ''The Critic'', 1st May 2022.</ref> while the detractors arguing that Smith had been scoring 20-plus margins by 1994 and as the majority of issues had been 'unforced errors' from the Tories and/or structural shifts all the signs were he would have also entered No 10 with at least a solid majority<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/may/10/labour.politicalcolumnists The abiding myth about John Smith] ''The Guardian'', 10th May 2004.</ref>. Needless to say, this has become a popular 'divergence event' for alternative history discussions<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/apr/07/if-john-smith-had-lived If John Smith had lived.] ''The Guardian'', 7th April 2011.</ref>.

Other items of note in his tenure was the piles of burning cattle due to [[BSE]]<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/25/mad-cow-disease-british-crisis Mad cow disease – a very British response to an international crisis] ''The Guardian'', 25 April 2012</ref>, his timidity (or caution) over intervening in the [[Yugoslav Wars]]<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/apr/11/balkans11 Major, the chicken turned hawk] ''The Guardian'', 11 April 1999</ref>, the on-off cease-fire from the [[IRA]]<ref>[https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-ira-bomb-1996-arndale-13192606 The 1996 Manchester bomb: A day that changed our city forever] ''Manchester Evening News'', 15 June 2024</ref>, ill-considered policies such as the 'Cones Hotline'<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/cones-hotline-put-into-cold-storage-1601950.html Cones Hotline put into cold storage] ''The Independent'', 20 September 1995.</ref> or simple examples of [[right wing]] stupidity and/or [[prejudice]] from [[Ann Widdecombe|Tory MPs]] we would now call attempts to create a '[[culture war]]' (or just signs the average member was still [[Good old days|mentally living in the 1950s]]).

==Campaign==
The Conservatives ran a confused campaign, unsure whether to [[Red-baiting|demonise Labour]]<ref>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprodmigration%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fe585ae41-1dcd-3050-91f9-e5a3dd73dc8b.jpg?crop=1500%2C1000%2C0%2C0&resize=1500 'New Labour, New Danger' Conservative Party attack poster, 1997] ''The Times'', 25 March 2015</ref> or mock them for stealing their own policies. That is, when they weren't attacking themselves or being spooked by the rise of the [[astroturf]]ed Referendum Party [[James Goldsmith|who'd got enough money]] to send millions of election videos to voters (another UK first).<ref>[https://www.worldpr.org/2020/06/05/sir-james-goldsmith-and-the-referendum-party/ Sir James Goldsmith and the Referendum Party] ''WorldPR'', 5 June 2020</ref>  The truth was a bit sadder than this; they knew they'd lose, only wondered by how much.

[[Labour Party|Labour]] went on the offensive with a content-light media campaign, mainly filled with similar happy-talk and windy [[Third Way]] uplift which had gotten [[Bill Clinton]] into the White House twice. This pissed off the more [[socialist]] end of their base, but by this point they were pretty hungry for power and would put up with almost anything to get it. One key asset was that of Tony Blair; a man who's clear, easy charisma and energy was in stark contract with the 'dull' Major, a man who appeared older, duller and straight-laced than he actually was.

The Liberal Democrats, not being fools saw how the wind was blowing due to Blair and the general lack of Labour-Liberal marginals seemed to have reached a 'non-aggression' pact between them to focus the fire (and tactical voting) against the incumbents (a pact which is now known to have been 'officially unofficial'<ref>[https://www.compassonline.org.uk/1997-then-now-labour-lib-dems-progressive-alliance-pact/ Inside story of 1997 Labour–Lib Dem deal] ''Compass Online'', 23 May 2022</ref>).

==Results==
[[File:House of Commons elected members, 1997.svg|thumb|right|250px|Post-election composition of the [[House of Commons]].]]
On the whole, the strategy worked — a Labour landslide, a 'working majority' of 182. A significant percentage of Labour supporters voted tactically for Liberals (and vice-versa); allowing the latter to more than double their seats despite a slight drop in total votes. The Conservatives lost a significant portion of their 'front bench', and were reduced to an England-only party. It also marked the start of the rise of the [[SNP]]; doubling to six MPs.

[[File:UK General Election, 1997.svg|thumb|right|400px|Map of the results.]]

{| class="wikitable"

! Turnout: 71.3% (-6.3%) !! Seats !! Change !! Vote % !! Change
|-
| <u>'''Labour'''</u> || '''419''' || <span style="color:green">'''+146'''</span> || '''43.2''' || <span style="color:green">'''+8.8'''</span>
|-
| <u>'''Conservatives'''</u> || '''165''' || <span style="color:red">'''-178'''</span> || '''30.7''' || <span style="color:red">'''-11.2'''</span>
|-
| <u>'''Liberal Democrats'''</u>  || '''46''' || <span style="color:green">'''+28'''</span> || '''16.8''' || <span style="color:red">'''-1.0'''</span>
|-
| <u>'''Other'''</u> || '''29''' || '''+5''' || '''9.3''' || '''+3.4'''
|}

[[File:1997 UK General Election Constituencies.svg|thumb|left|225px|Map showing constituencies as equal area to better indicate the number of seats.]]

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==External links==
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/ BBC's 'Election '97' site]; still (mainly) functional.

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

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

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

Categories: Elections, British politics, UK general elections