British general election 1997

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(Share of votes in%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

43.8

30.7

17.0

2.6

2.0

0.8

3.1

Labor ^a

Tories

LibDem ^c

RP

SNP

UUP

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1992

 % p

 10

   8th

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

  -8th

-10

-12

+9.0

-11.2

-1.0

+2.6

+0.1

± 0.0

+0.2

Labor ^a

Tories

LibDem ^c

RP

SNP

UUP

Otherwise.

Remarks:

^a with SDLP

^c with Alliance

2

3

418

4th

6th

3

46

10

165

2

2 3 418 4th 6th 3 46 10 165 2 

A total of 659 seats

• SF : 2
• SDLP : 3
• Labor : 418
• Plaid : 4
• SNP : 6
• Otherwise: 3
• LibDem : 46
• UUP : 10
• Tories : 165
• DUP : 2

The 1997 general election of May 1, 1997 brought the first change of government in 18 years. The Labor Party under Tony Blair defeated the previously ruling Conservative Party under John Major . This election was referred to as a "bloodbath" for the Conservatives. They lost more than half of their previous mandates, including all in Scotland and Wales . Labor won the largest majority for any party in British history (179).

Various prominent Conservatives, including several cabinet members, were voted out of office. These included Secretary of Defense Michael Portillo , Secretary of State Malcolm Rifkind , Minister of Commerce and Industry Ian Lang and Minister of Scotland Michael Forsyth .

The Liberal Democrats more than doubled their mandates and achieved their best result since the 1920s, when they were last represented in government. The referendum party , which demanded a vote to leave the EU , reached fourth place with more than 800,000 votes, but could not win any seats. Still, it stole valuable votes from the conservatives.

Election results

Results by constituency. The colors correspond to the adjacent table.

Political party		be right			Mandates
		number	%	+/-	number	+/-
	Labor Party	13,517,911	43.2	+8.8	418	+147
	Conservative party	9,600,940	30.7	−11.2	165	−171
	Liberal Democrats	5,243,440	16.8	−1.0	46	+26
	Referendum party	811,829	2.6	+2.6	-	-
	Scottish National Party	622.260	2.0	+0.1	6th	+3
	Ulster Unionist Party	258,349	0.8	-	10	+1
	Social Democratic and Labor Party	190.814	0.6	+0.1	3	−1
	Plaid Cymru	161.030	0.5	-	4th	-
	Sinn Féin	127.144	0.4	+0.2	2	+2
	Democratic Unionist Party	107,348	0.3	-	2	−1
	UK Independence Party	106.001	0.3	+0.3	-	-
	Independent	64,482	0.2	-	1	-
	Green Party of England and Wales	64,452	0.2	-0.3	-	-
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	62,972	0.2	-	-	-
	Socialist Labor Party	52.110	0.2	+0.2	-	-
	Liberal party	45.229	0.1	-0.1	-	-
	British National Party	35,519	0.1	+0.1	-	-
	Independent Labor	34,418	0.1	-	-	-
	Natural Law Party	30,713	0.1	-0.1	-	-
	Speaker	23,969	0.1	-	1	-
	Independent Conservative	20,279	0.1	-	-	-
	Prolife Alliance	19,017	0.1	+0.1	-	-
	UK Unionist Party	12,817	0.0	-	1	+1
	Progressive Unionist Party	10,934	0.0	-	-	-
	National Democrats	10,829	0.0	-	-	-
	Others	53,302	0.3	-	-	-
	total	31.288.108	100.0		659
Eligible voters		43,784,559
voter turnout		71.46%
Source:

See also

• United Kingdom Political System

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Summary results of the 1997 election. United Kingdom Election Results (English)