Landslide victory

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In politics, a landslide victory (or landslide) is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming majority in an election.

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[edit] Australia

After the 2007 federal election some commentators referred to the Labor Party's win under Kevin Rudd as a ruddslide. By historical standards though, the victory was not unusually large. Some notable election results in Australia have been:

Australian elections are characterised by few changes in government - since 1949 there have been only five elections where a new party has won government. When a new party is elected, however, it is generally by a landslide.

Some notable state election landslides include:

[edit] Canada

[edit] France

[edit] Germany

[edit] Hong Kong

[edit] Poland

[edit] Russia

[edit] United Kingdom

In general, any British general election which results in a majority of over 100 seats tends to be described as a landslide. Landslide victories since the Reform Act 1884 (the first time a majority of adult males could vote) are:

Labour's general election victory in 2001 with an overall majority of 167 was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. Though the Government did score a very high majority, public interest in the election was not excited and, unlike most of the landslide results listed above, there was little change from the previous election and no change of governing party.

Landslides are relatively common in British electoral history, and this is partly as a result of the first-past-the-post electoral system. Relatively small differences in numbers of popular votes cast be amplified by the eventual result. For instance, Labour achieved a 66-seat majority in the 2005 election despite securing only 35% of the vote. Conversely, parties can poll very highly and achieve disproportionately low numbers of MPs. For example, the Conservatives (led by John Major) polled the greatest number of votes in British history in the 1992 election, but were returned with a slender overall majority of just 21.

[edit] United States

[edit] Presidential

[edit] Popular votes

[edit] Electoral votes

[edit] The greatest modern landslides in the United States Presidential elections
  • 1920 - the greatest percentage point margin in the popular vote (Harding 60.3% to Cox 34.1%).
  • 1936 - the greatest electoral votes difference between winner and opponent (Roosevelt 523 to Landon 8).
  • 1964 - the highest percentage for winner (Lyndon Johnson 61.1%).
  • 1984 - the highest number of electoral votes (Reagan 525).
  • 1789 and 1792 - the highest percentage of Electoral College Votes (100% - George Washington was the only president to win a unanimous Electoral College victory. Washington received the maximum possible electoral votes in both the 1789 and 1792 election.)[2]

[edit] Other elections

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Putin party secures huge victory
  2. ^ Both elections were in the pre-12th amendment electoral college, and thus the maximum available votes one could receive was 50% of available votes. Each elector had to select 2 different candidates. Thus while Washington did not get all the electoral votes, he received the maximum possible. In plain language, every elector voted for Washington, but was required by the constitution to vote for a separate 2nd candidate. The Vice-President office was not a separate election but the runner-up of the presidential election. This method of presidential election was changed with the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1804.

[edit] See also

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