United Kingdom general election, 1992

United Kingdom general election, 1992
United Kingdom
9 April 1992
All 651 seats in the House of Commons
326 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 77.67%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader John Major Neil Kinnock Paddy Ashdown
Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat
Leader since 28 November 1990 2 October 1983 16 July 1988
Leader's seat Huntingdon Islwyn Yeovil
Last election 376 seats, 42.2% 229 seats, 30.8% 22 seats, 22.6%
Seats won 336 271 20
Seat change Decrease40 Increase42 Decrease2
Popular vote 14,093,007 11,560,484 5,999,384
Percentage 41.9% 34.4% 17.8%
Swing Decrease0.3% Increase3.6% Decrease4.8%

Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
PM before election

John Major
Conservative

 Subsequent PM

John Major
Conservative

1983 election • MPs
1987 election • MPs
1992 election • MPs
1997 election • MPs
2001 election • MPs
Ring charts of the election results showing popular vote against seats won, coloured in party colours
Seats won in the election (outer ring) against number of votes (inner ring).

The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. It remains the last outright Conservative victory in the UK. This election result took many by surprise, as polling leading up to the day of the election had shown the Labour Party under leader Neil Kinnock to be consistently, if narrowly, ahead.

John Major had won the leadership election in November 1990 following the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. During his term leading up to the 1992 elections he oversaw the British involvement in the Gulf War, introduced legislation to replace the unpopular Community Charge with Council Tax, and signed the Maastricht treaty. The economy was facing a recession around the time of Major's appointment, along with most of the other industrialised nations. It was one of the most dramatic elections in the UK since the end of the Second World War, after the Conservative Party defeated the initial favourites, the Labour Party.[1]

The BBC's live television broadcast of the election results were presented by David Dimbleby and Peter Snow, with John Cole.[2] On ITV, the ITN-produced coverage was presented by Jon Snow, Alastair Stewart, Julia Somerville with Sir Robin Day performing the same interviewing role for ITV as he had done for the BBC on many previous election nights. Sky News presented full coverage of a general election night for the first time. Their coverage was presented by Sir David Frost, Michael Wilson, Selina Scott, Adam Boulton and political scientist Michael Thrasher, with former BBC political journalist Donald MacCormick presenting analysis of the Scottish vote.

The Conservatives received what remains the largest number of votes in British history, breaking the record set by Labour in 1951.

Overview

The Conservatives had been elected by a landslide in the 1987 general election under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, but her popularity had sharply declined in 1989 due to the early 1990s recession, internal divisions in the party and the unpopular Community Charge. Labour began to lead the Conservatives in the opinion polls by as much as 20 percentage points. Thatcher resigned after the party leadership ballot in November 1990 and was replaced by John Major. This was well received by the public; Labour lost some momentum as it reduced the impact of their calls for "Time for a Change".[3]

As 1992 dawned, the recession deepened and the election loomed, most opinion polls suggested that Labour were still favourites to win the election, although the lead of the polls had changed from Tory to Labour on several occasions since the end of 1990. The Conservatives maintained strong support in many newspapers, especially The Sun, who ran a series of anti-Labour articles that culminated on election day with a front page headline which urged "the last person to leave Britain" to "turn out the lights" if Labour won the election.[4]

Parliament was due to expire no later than 16 June 1992. Major called the election on 11 March, shortly after Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont had delivered the Budget.

Campaign

Under the leadership of Neil Kinnock the Labour party had undergone further changes following its 1987 election defeat. Labour entered the campaign confident with most opinion polls showing a slight Labour lead that if maintained suggested a hung parliament, with no single party having an overall majority.

The parties campaigned on the familiar grounds of taxation and health care. Major became known for delivering his speeches while standing on an upturned soapbox during public meetings. Immigration was also an issue, with Home Secretary Kenneth Baker making a controversial speech stating that, under Labour, the floodgates would be opened for immigrants from developing countries. Some speculated that this was a bid by the Conservatives to shore up its support amongst its white working class supporters. The Conservatives also pounded the Labour Party over the issue of taxation, producing a memorable poster entitled "Kinnock's Double-Whammy", showing a boxer wearing gloves marked "tax rises" and "inflation".

An early setback to Labour came in the form of the "War of Jennifer's Ear" controversy, which questioned the truthfulness of a Labour party election broadcast concerning National Health Service (NHS) waiting lists.

Labour seemingly recovered from the NHS controversy, and opinion polls on 1 April (dubbed "Red Wednesday") showed a clear Labour lead. But the lead fell considerably in the following day's polls. Observers blamed the decline on the Labour Party's triumphalist "Sheffield Rally", an enthusiastic American-style political convention at the Sheffield Arena, where Labour Leader Neil Kinnock famously cried out "we're alright!" three times. However most analysts and major participants in the campaign believe it actually had little effect, with the event only receiving widespread attention after the election.[5]

This was the first general election for the newly formed Liberal Democrats, which had grown from the formal merging of the SDP-Liberal Alliance. Its formation had not been without its problems, but under the strong leadership of Paddy Ashdown, who proved to be a likeable and candid figure, the party went into the election ready. They focused on education throughout the campaign, as well as a promise on reforming the voting system.[6]

Minor parties

In Scotland the Scottish National Party (SNP) hoped to make a major electoral breakthrough in 1992 and had run a hard independence campaign with Free by '93 as their slogan. Although the party managed to increase its total vote by 50% since 1987, the SNP only held onto the three seats they had won at the previous election. They also lost Glasgow Govan, which their deputy leader Jim Sillars had taken in a by-election in 1988. Sillars quit active politics after the General Election with a parting shot at the Scottish electorate as being "ninety minute patriots" referring to their supporting the Scotland national football team only during match time.[7]

The election also saw a small change in Northern Ireland as the Conservatives organised and stood candidates in the province for the first time since the Ulster Unionist Party had broken with them in 1972 over the Sunningdale Agreement. Although they won no seats, their best result was Laurence Kennedy achieving over 14,000 votes to run second to James Kilfedder in North Down.

Margaret Thatcher, Norman Tebbit, Denis Healey, Nigel Lawson, Geoffrey Howe, Michael Foot, David Owen, Merlyn Rees, then-Speaker Bernard Weatherill, Cecil Parkinson, John Wakeham, Nicholas Ridley and Peter Morrison were among the prominent retirees.

Polling

Almost every poll leading up to polling day predicted either a hung parliament, with Labour the largest party or a small Labour majority of around 19 to 23. Polls on the last few days before the country voted predicted a very slim Labour majority.[8]

With opinion polls at the end of the campaign showing Labour and the Conservatives neck and neck, the actual election result was a surprise to many in the media and in polling organisations. The apparent failure of the opinion polls to come close to predicting the actual result led to an inquiry by the Market Research Society. Following the election, most opinion polling companies changed their methodology in the belief that a 'Shy Tory Factor' affected the polling.

Results

The election turnout of 77.67%[9] was the highest in eighteen years. There was an overall Labour swing of 2.2%, which widened the gap between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. For the Conservatives, despite the reasonable percentage of votes received (only 0.3% down on 1987), the actual Conservative overall majority in the House of Commons was reduced to twenty-one seats. This number was reduced progressively during the course of Major's term in office due to defections of MPs to other parties, by-election defeats and for a time in 1994-95 suspension of the Conservative whip for some MPs who voted against the government on its European policy - by 1996, the Conservatives held a single-seat majority and were in minority going into 1997 up until the 1997 General Election. The Conservatives in 1992 received the most total votes ever for any political party in any UK general election, beating the previous largest total vote of 13.98 million achieved by Labour in 1951 (although this was from a smaller electorate and represented a higher vote share). Nine government ministers lost their seats in 1992, including party chairman Chris Patten.

The Sun′s analysis of the election results was headlined "It's the Sun wot won it" though in his testimony to the April 2012 Leveson inquiry, Rupert Murdoch claimed that the "infamous" headline was "both tasteless and wrong".[10] Tony Blair also accepted this theory of Labour's defeat and put considerable effort into securing The Sun's support for New Labour, both as Leader of the Opposition before the 1997 general election and as Prime Minister afterwards.

The results continued the Conservatives' decline in Northern England with Labour regaining many seats they had not held since 1979. The Conservatives also began to lose support in the Midlands, but had a slight increase in their vote in Scotland, where they had a net gain of one seat there. Labour and Plaid Cymru strengthened in Wales with Conservative support declining. However, in the South East, South West, London and Eastern England the Conservative vote held up leading to few losses there with many considering Basildon to be indicative of a nouveau riche working class element referred to as Essex Man voting strongly Conservative.

For the Liberal Democrats their first election campaign was a reasonable success, the party had worked itself up from a "low base" during its troubled creation and come out relatively unscathed.[11]

It was the second General Election defeat under Leader Neil Kinnock and Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley and both resigned soon after the election, and were succeeded by John Smith and Margaret Beckett respectively.

Sitting MPs Dave Nellist, Terry Fields, Ron Brown, John Hughes and Syd Bidwell who had been expelled or deselected by the Labour Party and stood as independents were all defeated, although in Nellist's case only very narrowly. Tommy Sheridan, fighting the election from prison, polled 19%.

↓
336 271 20 24
Conservative Labour Lib Dem O
UK General Election 1992[9]
Candidates Votes
Party Standing Elected Gained Unseated Net % of total % No. Net %
  Conservative 645 336 3 44 - 41 51.69 41.9 14,093,007 - 0.3
  Labour 634 271 43 1 + 42 41.62 34.4 11,560,484 + 3.6
  Liberal Democrat 632 20 4 6 - 2 3.07 17.8 5,999,606 - 4.8
  SNP 72 3 0 0 0 0.46 1.9 629,564 + 0.6
  UUP 13 9 0 0 0 1.38 0.8 271,049 0.0
  SDLP 13 4 1 0 + 1 0.61 0.5 184,445 0.0
  Green 253 0 0 0 0 0.5 170,047 + 0.2
  Plaid Cymru 38 4 1 0 + 1 0.61 0.5 156,796 + 0.1
  DUP 7 3 0 0 0 0.46 0.3 103,039 0.0
  Sinn Féin 14 0 0 1 - 1 0.2 78,291 - 0.1
  Alliance 16 0 0 0 0 0.2 68,665 0.0
  Liberal 73 0 0 0 0 0.2 64,744 N/A
  Natural Law 309 0 0 0 0 0.2 62,888 N/A
  Social Democratic 10 0 0 0 0 0.1 35,248 N/A
  Independent Labour 6 0 0 0 0 0.1 22,844 N/A
  Ulster Popular Unionist 1 1 0 0 0 0.15 0.1 19,305 0.0
  Independent Conservative 12 0 0 0 0 0.1 11,356 N/A
  Monster Raving Loony 25 0 0 0 0 0.1 7,929 + 0.1
  Independent 23 0 0 0 0 0.1 7,631 N/A
  BNP 13 0 0 0 0 0.1 7,631 N/A
  Scottish Militant Labour 1 0 0 0 0 0.1 6,287 N/A
  National Front 14 0 0 0 0 0.1 4,816 N/A
  True Labour 1 0 0 0 0 0.1 4,665 N/A
  Anti-Federalist 17 0 0 0 0 0.1 4,383 N/A
  Workers' Party 8 0 0 0 0 0.1 4,359 0.0
  Official Conservative Hove Party 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 2,658 N/A
  Loony Green 5 0 0 0 0 0.0 2,538 N/A
  Independent Unionist 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 2,256 N/A
  New Agenda 0 0 0 0 0.0 2,133 N/A
  Independent Progressive Socialist 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 1,094 N/A
  Islamic Party 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 1,085 N/A
  Revolutionary Communist 8 0 0 0 0 0.0 745 N/A
  Independent Nationalist 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 649 N/A
  Communist (PCC) 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 603 N/A

All parties with more than 500 votes shown. Plaid Cymru result includes votes for Green/Plaid Cymru Alliance.

Government's new majority 21
Total votes cast[9] 33,614,074
Turnout 77.7%
Popular vote
Conservative
  
 41.9%
Labour
  
 34.4%
Liberal Democrat
  
 17.8%
Scottish National
  
 1.9%
Ulster Unionist
  
 0.8%
Others
  
 2.9%
Parliamentary seats
Conservative
  
 51.6%
Labour
  
 41.6%
Liberal Democrat
  
 3.1%
Ulster Unionist
  
 1.4%
Others
  
 2.3%

Incumbents defeated

MPs who lost their seats

Party Name Constituency Office held whilst in power Year elected Defeated by Party
Conservative Party Michael Knowles Nottingham East 1983 John Heppell Labour Party
Martin Brandon-Bravo Nottingham South 1983 Alan Simpson Labour Party
Andy Stewart Sherwood Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Commons 1983 Paddy Tipping Labour Party
Tim Janman Thurrock 1987 Andrew MacKinlay Labour Party
Michael Irvine Ipswich 1987 Jamie Cann Labour Party
Colin Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan Lewisham East Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy 1983 Bridget Prentice Labour Party
Sir William Shelton Streatham 1970 Keith Hill Labour Party
Patrick Ground QC Feltham and Heston 1983 Alan Keen Labour Party
Sir Neil Thorne Ilford South 1979 Mike Gapes Labour Party
Hugo Summerson Walthamstow 1979 Neil Gerrard Labour Party
Michael Fallon Darlington Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education 1983 Alan Milburn Labour Party
Chris Butler Warrington South 1987 Mike Hall Labour Party
Cecil Franks Barrow and Furness 1983 John Hutton Labour Party
Tony Favell Stockport 1983 Ann Coffey Labour Party
Ken Hargreaves Hyndburn 1983 Greg Pope Labour Party
John Lee Pendle 1979 Gordon Prentice Labour Party
Ken Hind Lancashire West Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1983 Colin Pickthall Labour Party
Sir David Trippier Rossendale and Darwen 1979 Janet Anderson Labour Party
The Right Honourable
Lynda Chalker		 Wallasey Minister for Overseas Development & Africa 1974 Angela Eagle Labour Party
Christopher Chope Southampton Itchen Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport 1983 John Denham Labour Party
The Right Honourable
Chris Patten		 Bath Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster & Chairman of the Conservative Party 1979 Don Foster Liberal Democrats
Jonathan Sayeed Bristol East Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Paymaster General 1983 Jean Cortson Labour Party
Rob Hayward Kingswood 1983 Roger Berry Labour Party
Sir Gerry Neale North Cornwall 1979 Paul Tyler Liberal Democrats
Tony Speller North Devon 1979 Nick Harvey Liberal Democrats
Lewis Stevens Nuneaton 1983 Bill Olner Labour Party
The Right Honourable
Francis Maude		 North Warwickshire Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1983 Mike O'Brien Labour Party
Roger King Birmingham Northfield 1983 Richard Burden Labour Party
Sir Anthony Beaumont-Dark Birmingham Selly Oak 1979 Lynne Jones Labour Party
David Gilroy Bevan Birmingham Yardley 1979 Estelle Morris Labour Party
Maureen Hicks Wolverhampton North East Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1987 Ken Purchase Labour Party
Ian Grist Cardiff Central 1974 Jon Owen Jones Labour Party
John Maples Lewisham West Economic Secretary to the Treasury 1983 Jim Dowd Labour Party
Gerald Bowden Dulwich 1983 Tessa Jowell Labour Party
Gerald Howarth Cannock and Burntwood 1983 Tony Wright Labour Party
Conal Gregory York 1983 Hugh Bayley Labour Party
Nicholas Bennett Pembrokeshire Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 1983 Nick Ainger Labour Party
Labour Party Frank Doran Aberdeen South 1987 Raymond Robertson Conservative Party
John Smith Vale of Glamorgan 1989 Walter Sweeney Conservative Party
Huw Edwards Monmouth 1991 Roger Kenneth Evans Conservative Party
Ashok Kumar Langbaurgh 1991 Michael Bates Conservative Party
Sylvia Heal Mid Staffordshire 1990 Michael Fabricant Conservative Party
Liberal Democrats Michael Carr Ribble Valley 1991 Nigel Evans Conservative Party
Ronnie Fearn Southport 1987 Matthew Banks Conservative Party
David Bellotti Eastbourne 1990 Nigel Waterson Conservative Party
Nicol Stephen Kincardine and Deeside 1991 George Kynoch Conservative Party
Richard Livsey Brecon and Radnorshire 1985 Jonathan Evans Conservative Party
Geraint Howells Ceredigion and Pembroke North 1974 Cynog Dafis Plaid Cymru
Social Democratic Party Rosie Barnes Greenwich 1987 Nick Raynsford Labour Party
John Cartwright[12] Woolwich 1974 John Austin Labour Party
Scottish National Party Dick Douglas[13] Dunfermline West 1979 Rachel Squire Labour Party
Independent Dave Nellist [14] Coventry South East 1983 Jim Cunnigham Labour Party
John Hughes [14] Coventry North East 1987 Bob Ainsworth Labour Party
Terry Fields [14] Liverpool Broadgreen 1983 Jane Kennedy Labour Party
Syd Bidwell [15] Ealing Southall 1966 Piara Khabra Labour Party
Ron Brown [14] Edinburgh Leith 1979 Malcolm Chisholm Labour Party
Sinn Fein Gerry Adams Belfast West President of Sinn Féin 1983 Joe Hendron Social Democratic and Labour Party

See also

Manifestos

Notes

  1. ↑ "1992: Tories win again against odds". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "BBC Election '92". Youtube.com.
  3. ↑ "Poll tracker: Interactive guide to the opinion polls". BBC News. 29 September 2009.
  4. ↑ Douglas, Torin (14 September 2004). "Forty years of The Sun". BBC News. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Westlake, Martin (2001). Kinnock: The Biography (3rd ed.). London: Little, Brown Book Group. pp. 560–564. ISBN 0-3168-4871-9.
  6. ↑ "1992 Personalities". BBC News. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Peterkin, Tom (28 April 2003). "Swinney should stop his sneering at 'second best'". Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  8. ↑ How did Labour lose in '92?: The most authoritative study of the last general election is published tomorrow. Here, its authors present their conclusions and explode the myths about the greatest upset since 1945 - The Independent, 29 May 1994
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "General Election Results 9 April 1992" (PDF). parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  10. ↑ Dowell, Ben (25 April 2012). "Rupert Murdoch: 'Sun wot won it' headline was tasteless and wrong". The Guardian (London: Guardian Newspapers). Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "1992 Results". BBC News. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Former Labour MP, joined SDP
  13. ↑ Former Labour MP, joined SNP
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Former Labour MP, expelled from Party
  15. ↑ Former Labour MP, de-selected by Party

Further reading

External links