The 1997 General Election Flashcards
How did people feel about the 1997 election
-despite opinion polls during campaign showing large Labour lead — many lab supporters worried the power of Tory electoral machine might cause another disappointment like 1992
-Blair secretly discussed possibility of coalition gov with Lib Dem leader Ashdown — Lab manifesto included pledges like referendums for devolution which were longstanding lib aims
How did the lab party manifesto + pledges increase chances of winning
-lab party created pledge card created pledge card containing 5 promises that were easy to understand + designed attract range of voters
-1. Cut class sizes to 30 or under for 5-7 year olds by using money from assisted places scheme
-2. Fast-track punishment for persistent young offenders by halving time from arrest to sentence
-3. Cut NHS waiting lists by treating extra 100k patients as first step to releasing 100million saved from NHS red tape etc.
How were lab no longer an easy target for attack
-lab no longer easy target for attack as high its organisation + policies meant previously successful Tory attacks of frightening votes away from lab ‘socialist extremism’ not working anymore
-cons message confused as veered between ‘new lab’ was just ‘old lab’ in disguise or that ‘new lab’ ‘stole cons policies’
How were the cons suffering
-accusations ‘Tory sleaze’ damaging
-in Tatton independent Martin Bell’s campaign for clean politics against cons map Hamilton’s dominated evening news bulletins reminding voters of Tory sleaze + scandal
What happened with the battles over Europe + maastricht
-battles over Maastricht + Europe continued resonate
-referendum party set up by Sir Goldsmith to fight 1997 election on promise hold referendum on UK EU membership
-despite winning no seats it kept Cons divisions over Europe in the news + attracted enough voters to cause cons defeats in some marginal seats e.g. David Mellor in Putney
What was the outcome of the 1997 election
-Major + Heseltine accepted cons defeat with election night being grim for the cons as half all cons MPs lost their seats - many of which high profile like Michael Portillo, David Mellor and Norman Lamont
-lab won landslide with 418 seats to cons 166
-cons 31% of vote which is the lowest since 1823
What happened with Michael portillo’s seat
-in Enfield a previously unheard of lab candidate Stephen Twigg defeated a cons ‘Big beast’ Portillo
-portillo lost his seat which had long term impact on cons party in opposition
How was tactical voting seen in the 1997 election
-election indicated widespread tactical voting with lab supporters voting Lib Dem’s according to how anti-cons vote be maximised
-this neutralised cons advantage with the split on left/centre - left which existed since formation SDP 1981
Why did lab win and cons lose 1997
-lab landslide 1997 ended 18 years cons dominance
-lab gov had strong parl maj for first time since 1966 - so many MPs female + youthful was in tune with ideas of a new beginning
-cons party suffered worst defeat since 1940 + major did not hang around as he resigned as party leader + went to the oval to watch cricket
