Election And Referendums: 1983 Election Flashcards
When was the 1983 general election held?
June 9th 1983
What were the name of the group, and the individual, of Labour moderates who had quit the party in 1981 to set up the Social Democratic Party (SDP)?
The ‘Gang of Four’, who were Roy Jenkins, David Ownes, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams
What had the forming of the SDP showed the problem within the Labour Party?
The divided party, with many moderates leaving
In the 1983 election, how much of a swing of the vote went from Labour to Conservative?
3.8%
In the 1983 election, how much of the Conservative vote fell?
1.5% from 43,9% to 42.4%
How many of the 110 seats in souther England outside London did Labour win in the 1983 election?
2
What was the increase in conservative majority from 1979 in the 1983 election?
from 43 in 1979 to 144 after the 1983 general election
What alliance had handed many Labour seats to the Conservatives?
the SDP-Liberal Alliance
In the 1983 election, what role did the third parties play?
One of a ‘spoiler’ as they stole many seats from Labour
Though In the 1983 election, what had many people argued the SDP-Liberal alliance stopped?
A even greater Conservative majority, as many who had voted for alliance had abandoned the Labour Party so would of voted for Conservatives if it wasn’t for Alliance
In the 1983 election, which social class did the Conservatives enjoy an 8% lead among and what class did the reduced their deficit among?
The C2 social class (skilled working class) were the 8% lead and DE (semi/unskilled working class) had the deficit reduced for the Conservatives
In the 1983 election, how many votes and seats did each party get?
Conservatives: 13,012,316 and 397 seats
Labour: 8,456,935 and 209 seats
Alliance: 7,780,949 and 23 seats
Other: 1,420,938 and 21 seats
In the 1983 election, what was the right-wing section of the press called?
‘Maggie Cult’
In the 1983 election, who did the sun encourage its voters to vote for?
‘Vote for Maggie’
In the 1983 election, why did Labour have a disastrous press coverage?
There was a hostile right wing press and a split left-wing party platform
In the 1983 election, what was the name of Labour’s manifesto?
‘The New Hope for Britain’
In the 1983 election, what was Labours manifesto referred as by Gerald Kaufmann, then Labour shadow environment minster?
‘The longest suicide note in history’
In the run up to the 1983 election, what joint statement obliterated any semblance of party unity within Labour?
When Michael Foot and deputy leader Denis Healey issued a joint statement confirming allegations of disagreement within the party over defence policy
In the 1983 election, what was the name of the Conservative manifesto?
‘Forward - the Challenge of Our Times’
In the 1983 election, what did the Conservative manifesto portray of the party?
That the Conservatives hoped to become more radical during its second term in office
In the 1983 election, what did the Conservative manifesto promise?
Trade union reform and a programme of privatisation,
In the 1983 election, what did Thatcher journey across while campaigning?
In her ‘superbus’
In the 1983 election, what was tue last day of campaigning designed to evoke memories of?
The Falklands war
In the 1983 election, what card did the conservatives use and what key issues did this cover?
The ‘patriotic card’ which covers foreign policy and defence
