1979 United Kingdom general election
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All 635 seats in the House of Commons 318 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 76.0%, 3.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Composition of the House of Commons after the election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1979 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the House of Commons.
The
The previous parliamentary term had begun in October 1974, when Harold Wilson led Labour to a majority of three seats, seven months after forming a minority government following a hung parliament and the failure of Edward Heath's Conservative government to form a coalition with the Liberals. Wilson had previously led the party in government from October 1964 to June 1970, and had served as party leader since February 1963.
However, after just two years back in Downing Street, he had resigned as prime minister,
However, on 28 March 1979, following the defeat of the Scottish devolution referendum, Thatcher tabled a motion of no confidence in Callaghan's Labour government, which was passed by just one vote (311 to 310), triggering a general election five months before the end of the government's term.
The Labour campaign was hampered by recent memories of a series of industrial disputes and strikes during the winter of 1978–79, known as the Winter of Discontent, and the party focused its campaign on support for the National Health Service and full employment. After intense media speculation that a general election would be held before the end of 1978, Callaghan had announced early in the autumn of that year that a general election would not take place that year, having received private polling data which suggested a parliamentary majority was unlikely.[1]
The Conservative campaign employed the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and pledged to control inflation as well as curbing the power of the trade unions. The Conservatives also ran their campaign on the theme that "Labour Isn't Working" (unemployment reached a 40-year high of 1.5 million during 1978). The Liberal Party was damaged by allegations that Jeremy Thorpe, its former leader, had been involved in a homosexual affair and had conspired to murder his former lover. The Liberals were now being led by David Steel, meaning that all three major parties entered the election with a new leader.
The election saw a 5.2% swing from Labour to the Conservatives, the largest swing since the 1945 election, which Clement Attlee won for Labour. Margaret Thatcher became prime minister, and Callaghan was replaced as Labour leader by Michael Foot in 1980. The results of the election were broadcast live on the BBC, and presented by David Dimbleby and Robin Day, with Robert McKenzie on the "Swingometer", and further analysis provided by David Butler.[2] It was the first general election to feature Rick Wakeman's song "Arthur" during the BBC's coverage.
Because of the anaemic economic and social backdrop in this election, it presaged the 1980 United States presidential election 18 months later in which, in a situation with some parallels, incumbent US President Jimmy Carter was likewise defeated by Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, an advocate of similar socioeconomic policies to those of Margaret Thatcher's Britain.
Future Prime Minister John Major, who went on to succeed Thatcher in November 1990, entered Parliament at this election, retaining the Huntingdonshire seat in Cambridgeshire for the Conservatives. Prominent MPs Jeremy Thorpe, Shirley Williams and Barbara Castle were among the members of parliament who retired or lost their seats.
Timeline
After suffering a vote of no confidence on 28 March 1979, Prime Minister James Callaghan was forced to announce that he would request a dissolution of Parliament to bring about a general election. The key dates were as follows:
Saturday 7 April | Dissolution of the 47th Parliament and campaigning officially begins; 2,576 candidates enter to contest 635 seats |
Wednesday 2 May | Campaigning officially ends |
Thursday 3 May | Polling day |
Friday 4 May | The Conservative Party wins power with a majority of 44 |
Wednesday 9 May | The 48th Parliament assembles |
Tuesday 15 May | State Opening of Parliament |
Background
Britain's economy during the 1970s was so weak that Labour minister James Callaghan warned his fellow Cabinet members in 1974 of the possibility of "a breakdown of democracy", telling them: "If I were a young man, I would emigrate."[3] Callaghan succeeded Harold Wilson as the Labour prime minister after the latter's surprise resignation in April 1976. By March 1977, Labour had become a minority government after two by-election defeats cost them the three-seat majority they had won in October 1974, and from March 1977 to August 1978 Callaghan governed by an agreement with the Liberal Party through the Lib–Lab pact. Callaghan had considered calling an election in the autumn of 1978,[4] but ultimately decided that imminent tax cuts, and a possible economic upturn in 1979, could favour his party at the polls and delayed the election until the following year. Although published opinion polls suggested that he might win,[5] private polls commissioned by the Labour Party from MORI had suggested the two main parties had much the same level of support.[1]
However, events would soon overtake the Labour government and prove Callaghan's decision to delay an election to be a costly mistake. A series of industrial disputes in the winter of 1978–79, dubbed the "Winter of Discontent", led to widespread strikes across the country and seriously hurt Labour's standings in the polls while boosting support for the Conservative opposition. When the Scottish National Party (SNP) withdrew support for the Scotland Act 1978, a vote of no confidence was held and passed by one vote on 28 March 1979, forcing Callaghan to call a general election. As the previous election had been held in October 1974, Labour could have held on until the autumn of 1979 if it had not been for the lost confidence vote.
Margaret Thatcher had won her party's 1975 leadership election over former leader Edward Heath, taking over the leadership of the party in February 1975, four months after the party's failure to win the October 1974 election. Heath had led the party for a decade but lost three of the four elections he contested.
David Steel had replaced Jeremy Thorpe as leader of the Liberal Party in 1976, after allegations of homosexuality and conspiracy to murder his former lover forced Thorpe to resign. The Thorpe affair led to a fall in the Liberal vote, after what had been thought to be a breakthrough in the February 1974 election.
Campaign
This was the first election since 1959 to feature three new leaders for the main political parties. The three main parties all advocated cutting income tax. Labour and the Conservatives did not specify the exact thresholds of income tax they would implement but the Liberals did, claiming they would have income tax starting at 20% with a top rate of 50%.[6]
Without explicitly mentioning Thatcher's sex, Callaghan was (as Christian Caryl later wrote) "a master at sardonically implying that whatever the leader of the opposition said was made even sillier by the fact that it was said by a woman". Thatcher used the tactics that had defeated her other male opponents: constantly studying, sleeping only a few hours a night, and exploiting her femininity to appear as someone who understood housewives' household budgets.[7]
A proposal for the two main party leaders to participate in two
Labour
The Labour campaign reiterated their support for the National Health Service and full employment and focused on the damage they believed the Conservatives would do to the country. In an early campaign broadcast, Callaghan asked: "The question you will have to consider is whether we risk tearing everything up by the roots." Towards the end of Labour's campaign, Callaghan claimed a Conservative government "would sit back and just allow firms to go bankrupt and jobs to be lost in the middle of a world recession" and that the Conservatives were "too big a gamble to take".[10]
The Labour Party manifesto, The Labour way is the better way, was issued on 6 April.[11] Callaghan presented five priorities:
- "We must keep a curb on inflation and prices";
- "We will carry forward the task of putting into practice the new framework to improve industrial relations that we have hammered out with the TUC";
- "We give a high priority to working for a return to full employment";
- "We are deeply concerned to enlarge people's freedom"; and
- "We will use Britain's influence to strengthen world peace and defeat world poverty"
Conservatives
The Conservatives campaigned on economic issues, pledging to control inflation and to reduce the increasing power of the trade unions who supported mass strikes. They also employed the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi who had created the "Labour Isn't Working" poster.
The Conservative campaign was focused on gaining support from traditional Labour voters who had never voted Conservative before, first-time voters, and people who had voted Liberal in 1974.
An analysis of the election result showed that the Conservatives gained an 11% swing among the skilled working class (the C2s) and a 9% swing amongst the unskilled working class (the DEs).[15]
Thatcher's stance on immigration in the late 1970s (following the vast immigration from Asian and African-Caribbean nations during the 1950s and 1960s) was perceived as part of a rising racist public discourse,[16] As Leader of the Opposition, Thatcher believed that the National Front (NF) was winning over large numbers of Conservative voters with warnings against floods of immigrants. Her strategy was to undermine the NF narrative by acknowledging that many of its voters had serious concerns in need of addressing. The National Front had a relatively small following and did not win any seats in parliament.
Thatcher criticised Labour immigration policy in January 1978, with the goal of attracting voters away from the NF and to the Conservatives.
The Conservative manifesto, drafted by Chris Patten and Adam Ridley and edited by Angus Maude, reflected Thatcher's views and was issued on 11 April.[24] It promised five major policies:
- "to restore the health of our economic and social life, by controlling inflation and striking a fair balance between the rights and duties of the trade union movement";
- "to restore incentives so that hard work pays, success is rewarded and genuine new jobs are created in an expanding economy";
- "to uphold Parliament and the rule of law";
- "to support family life, by helping people to become home-owners, raising the standards of their children's education and concentrating welfare services on the effective support of the old, the sick, the disabled and those who are in real need"; and
- "to strengthen Britain's defences and work with our allies to protect our interests in an increasingly threatening world".[25]
Opinion polling
Opinion polling for UK general elections |
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February 1974 election |
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October 1974 election |
Opinion polls |
1979 election |
Opinion polls |
1983 election |
Opinion polls |
1987 election |
Opinion polls |
Results
In the end, the overall swing of 5.2% was the largest since 1945, and gave the Conservatives a workable majority of 44 for the country's first female prime minister. The Conservative victory in 1979 also marked a change in government which would continue for 18 years, including the entire 1980s, until the Labour victory of 1997. It marked a period of political stability in the United Kingdom following four changes of government in the space of 15 years. Although the Conservatives would go on to win more seats under Thatcher in 1983 and 1987, and again under Boris Johnson in 2019, the Tories have never since matched the 43.9% of the popular vote they recorded in 1979.
The SNP saw a massive collapse in support, losing 9 of its 11 MPs. The Liberal Party had a disappointing election; its scandal-hit former leader Jeremy Thorpe lost his seat in North Devon to the Conservatives.
Candidates | Votes | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Leader | Stood | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % | |
Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 622 | 339 | 63 | 1 | +62 | 53.4 | 43.9 | 13,697,923 | +8.1 | |
Labour | James Callaghan | 623 | 269[a] | 4 | 54 | −50 | 42.4 | 36.9 | 11,532,218 | −2.3 | |
Liberal | David Steel | 577 | 11 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1.7 | 13.8 | 4,313,804 | −4.5 | |
SNP | William Wolfe
|
71 | 2 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0.31 | 1.6 | 504,259 | −1.3 | |
Ulster Unionist | Harry West | 11 | 5 | 1
|
2 | −1 | 0.79 | 0.8 | 254,578 | −0.1 | |
National Front | John Tyndall
|
303 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.6 | 191,719 | +0.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Gwynfor Evans | 36 | 2 | 0 | 1
|
−1 | 0.31 | 0.4 | 132,544 | −0.2 | |
SDLP | Gerry Fitt | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.16 | 0.4 | 126,325 | −0.2 | |
Alliance | Oliver Napier | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.3 | 82,892 | +0.1 | |
DUP | Ian Paisley | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 0.47 | 0.2 | 70,795 | −0.1 | |
Ecology
|
Jonathan Tyler | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 39,918 | +0.1 | |
UUUP | Ernest Baird | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 0.16 | 0.1 | 39,856 | N/A | |
Ulster Popular Unionist | James Kilfedder | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 0.16 | 0.1 | 36,989 | +0.1 | |
Independent Labour
|
N/A | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 26,058 | −0.1 | |
Irish Independence | Fergus McAteer and Frank McManus | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 23,086 | N/A | |
Independent Republican | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 22,398 | −0.1 | |
Independent | N/A | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 19,531 | +0.1 | |
Communist | Gordon McLennan | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 16,858 | 0.0 | |
SLP | Jim Sillars | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 13,737 | N/A | |
Workers Revolutionary | Michael Banda | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 12,631 | +0.1 | |
Workers' Party | Tomás Mac Giolla | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 12,098 | 0.0 | |
Independent SDLP | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 10,785 | N/A | |
Unionist Party NI | Anne Dickson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 8,021 | −0.1 | |
Ind. Conservative
|
N/A | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 4,841 | 0.0 | |
NI Labour | Alan Carr | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 4,441 | 0.0 | |
Mebyon Kernow | Richard Jenkin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 4,164 | 0.0 | |
Democratic Labour
|
Dick Taverne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 3,785 | −0.1 | |
Wessex Regionalist
|
Viscount Weymouth | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 3,090 | N/A | |
Socialist Unity | N/A | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 2,834 | N/A | |
United Labour | Paddy Devlin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 1,895 | N/A | |
Independent Democratic | N/A | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 1,087 | N/A | |
United Country | Edmund Iremonger | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 1,033 | N/A | |
Independent Liberal | N/A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 1,023 | 0.0 | |
Independent Socialist | N/A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 770 | 0.0 | |
Workers (Leninist)
|
Royston Bull | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 767 | 0.0 | |
New Britain | Dennis Delderfield | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 717 | 0.0 | |
Fellowship | Ronald Mallone | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 531 | 0.0 | |
More Prosperous Britain | Tom Keen | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 518 | 0.0 | |
United English National | John Kynaston | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 238 | 0.0 | |
Cornish Nationalist | James Whetter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 227 | N/A | |
Social Democrat | Donald Kean | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 144 | 0.0 | |
English National | Frank Hansford-Miller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 142 | 0.0 | |
The Dog Lovers' Party | Auberon Waugh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 79 | 0.0 | |
Socialist (GB) | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 78 | 0.0 |
Government's new majority | 43 |
Total votes cast | 31,221,362 |
Turnout | 76% |
Votes summary
Seats summary
Incumbents defeated
See also
- List of MPs elected in the 1979 United Kingdom general election
- 1979 United Kingdom local elections
- 1979 United Kingdom general election in England
- 1979 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
- 1979 United Kingdom general election in Scotland
Notes
- ^ a b The seat and vote count figures for Labour given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons
- Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party had folded in 1978. Of its three MPs, two joined the Ulster Unionist Party (one held his seat, the other lost to the Democratic Unionist Party) and the third defended and held his seat for the United Ulster Unionist Party.
- ^ James Kilfedder had been previously elected as an Ulster Unionist MP, but left the party, defending and holding his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. He subsequently founded the Ulster Popular Unionist Party but did not use that label in this election.
References
- ^ a b Beckett 2009, p. 460.
- YouTube
- ^ Beckett 2009, p. 175.
- ^ "1979: Thatcher wins Tory landslide", BBC News, 5 April 2005, retrieved 4 May 2012
- ^ Hickson & Seldon 2004, p. 293.
- ^ "The Real Fight is for Britain", psr.Keele.ac.UK, 25 February 1998, archived from the original on 25 May 1998, retrieved 13 May 2010
- ^ a b Caryl 2014, pp. 3391–3428.
- ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (3 April 1979). "Thatcher hesitates over TV challenge". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (4 April 1979). "Geoffrey Parkhouse, Political Editor, writes". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ Young 1990, p. 131.
- ^ "1979 Labour Party Manifesto - The Labour Way is the Better Way". Archive of Labour Party Manifestos.
- ^ Campbell 2000, p. 432.
- ^ Speech to Conservative Rally in Cardiff, Margaret Thatcher Foundation, 16 April 1979, retrieved 13 May 2010
- ^ Russell, William (30 April 1979). "Ex-Labour MP defects to Tories". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ Butler & Kavanagh 1980, p. 343.
- ^ Witte (2014), p. 54.
- ^ Witte (2014), pp. 53–54.
- ^ Friedman (2006), p. 13.
- ^ Mitchell & Russell (1989).
- ^ Ward (2004), p. 128; Vinen (2009), pp. 227, 279.
- ^ Hansen (2000), pp. 207–208.
- ^ Anwar (2001).
- ^ "Black Conservatives: Are the Tories the new party of diversity?". 16 October 2020.
- ^ Butler & Kavanagh 1980, p. 166.
- ^ Keesing's Record of World Events, vol. 25, June 1979, p. 29633
- ^ Elected as a Labour MP
Sources
- Anwar, Muhammad (2001). "The participation of ethnic minorities in British politics". S2CID 144867334.
- ISBN 978-0-571-25226-8
- ISBN 978-0-333-77875-3
- ISBN 978-0-224-04097-6
- ISBN 978-0-465-06564-6
- Friedman, Lester D., ed. (2006). Fires Were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism. Wallflower Press. ISBN 978-1-904764-71-7.
- ISBN 978-0-19-158301-8.
- Hickson, Kevin; ISBN 978-1-134-38161-6
- Mitchell, Mark; Russell, Dave (1989). "Race, the new right and state policy in Britain". Immigrants & Minorities. 8 (1–2): 175–190. .
- Ward, Paul (2004). "A new way of being British". Britishness Since 1870. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-22016-3.
- ISBN 978-1-4711-2828-8.
- ISBN 978-1-317-88919-9
- ISBN 978-0-330-31487-9
Further reading
- Butler, David E.; et al. (1980), The British General Election of 1979, the standard scholarly study
- Campbell, John (2008), Margaret Thatcher, Volume 1: The Grocer's Daughter
- ISBN 0-900178-30-2
- Jenkins, Peter (1989), Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era
- S2CID 153934506
- Penniman, Howard R. (1981), Britain at the Polls, 1979: A Study of the General Election, p. 345
- Särlvik, Bo; Crewe, Ivor (1983), Decade of Dealignment: The Conservative Victory of 1979 & Electoral Trends in the 1970s, p. 393
External links
- United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 Archived 23 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
Manifestos
- Conservative manifesto, 1979, 1979 Conservative Party manifesto
- The Labour Way is the Better Way, 1979 Labour Party manifesto
- The Real Fight is for Britain, 1979 Liberal Party manifesto