1997 United Kingdom general election in England
← 1992 1 May 1997 (1997-05-01) 2001 →
All 529 English seats to the House of Commons
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Tony Blair John Major Paddy Ashdown
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader since 21 July 1994 4 July 1995[n 1] 16 July 1988
Leader's seat Sedgefield Huntingdon Yeovil
Last election 195 seats, 33.9% 319 seats, 45.5% 10 seats, 19.2%
Seats before 196† 324† 9†
Seats won 328 165 34
Seat change Increase132* Decrease159* Increase25*
Popular vote 11,347,882 8,780,881 4,677,565
Percentage 43.5% 33.7% 18.0%
Swing Increase9.6% Decrease11.8% Decrease1.2%
†Notional 1992 results if held on the 1997 boundaries

*Indicates boundary change - so this is a notional figure.

The 1997 United Kingdom general election in England was held on 1 May 1997 for 529 English seats to the House of Commons. Under Tony Blair, the Labour Party won a landslide majority of English seats, the first time since 1966 that Labour had won an overall majority of English seats.[2] The England result, together with even larger landslide Labour results in Scotland and Wales, gave Labour the biggest majority for any single party since 1931. Blair subsequently formed the first Labour government since 1979, beginning 13 years of Labour government.

Results table

Party[2] Seats Votes
Total Gains Losses Net +/- % seats Total votes % votes Change
Labour 328 133 1 Increase132 62.0 11,347,882 43.5 Increase9.6
Conservative 165 0 159 Decrease159 31.2 8,780,881 33.7 Decrease11.8
Liberal Democrats 34 26 1 Increase25 6.4 4,677,565 18.0 Decrease1.3
Referendum 0 0 0 Steady — 746,624 2.9 N/A
UKIP 0 0 0 Steady — 103,521 0.4 N/A
Independent 1 1 0 Increase1 0.2 69,464 0.3 Increase0.2
Green 0 0 0 Steady — 60,013 0.2 Decrease0.4
Liberal 0 0 0 Steady — 44,516 0.2 Steady
Socialist Labour 0 0 0 Steady — 44,114 0.2 N/A
BNP 0 0 0 Steady — 35,181 0.1 Increase0.1
Natural Law 0 0 0 Steady — 25,958 0.1 Decrease0.1
Independent Labour 0 0 0 Steady — 24,447 0.1 Steady
Speaker 1 1 0 Increase1 0.2 24,447 0.1 N/A
Ind. Conservative 0 0 0 Steady — 18,667 0.1 Steady
Prolife Alliance 0 0 0 Steady — 13,890 0.1 N/A
Other parties 0 0 0 Steady — 42,020 0.2 N/A
26,058,712 71.5 Decrease6.5
Popular vote
Labour
 
 43.5%
Conservative
 
 33.7%
Liberal Democrats
 
 18.0%
Referendum
 
 2.9%
Other
 
 2.1%
Parliament seats
Labour
 
 62.0%
Conservative
 
 31.2%
Liberal Democrats
 
 6.4%
Other
 
 0.4%

Regional results

Regional vote shares and changes are sourced from the House of Commons Library.[3]

North East

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Labour 28 +3 862,262 64.0 +10.7
Conservative 1 -3 266,294 19.8 -11.0
Liberal Democrats 1 Steady 169,270 12.6 -2.9
  Others 0 Steady 48,764 3.6 —
Total 30 Turnout 1,346,590

North West

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Labour 49 +13 1,499,518 51.5 +9.0
Conservative 9 -14 859,436 29.5 -11.3
Liberal Democrats 1 Steady 421,025 14.5 -1.0
  Others 1 +1 130,730 4.5 —
Total 60 Turnout 2,910,709

Merseyside

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Labour 15 +3 442,366 64.0 +10.4
Conservative 0 -4 141,120 19.8 -9.3
Liberal Democrats 1 +1 103,152 12.6 -2.4
  Others 0 Steady 28,158 3.6 —
Total 16 Turnout 714,796

Yorkshire and the Humber

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Labour 47 +13 1,339,170 51.9 +7.6
Conservative 7 -15 720,771 28.0 -10.0
Liberal Democrats 2 +2 412,216 16.0 -0.8
  Others 0 Steady 106,016 4.1 —
Total 56 Turnout 2,578,173

East Midlands

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Labour 30 +15 1,097,639 47.8 +10.4
Conservative 14 -15 800,958 34.9 -11.7
Liberal Democrats 0 Steady 311,264 13.6 -1.7
  Others 0 Steady 84,889 3.7 —
Total 44 Turnout 2,294,750

West Midlands

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Labour 43 +15 1,326,822 47.0 +8.2
Conservative 14 -17 953,465 33.7 -11.0
Liberal Democrats 1 +1 388,807 13.8 -1.3
  Others 1 +1 156,731 5.5 —
Total 59 Turnout 2,825,825

East of England

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Conservative 33 -19 1,164,777 39.5 -13.0
Labour 22 +18 1,137,637 38.6 +12.2
Liberal Democrats 1 +1 504,416 17.1 -2.7
  Others 0 Steady 140,337 4.8 —
Total 56 Turnout 2,947,167

London

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Labour 57 +25 1,643,329 49.5 +12.4
Conservative 11 -30 1,036,082 31.2 -14.1
Liberal Democrats 6 +5 485,511 14.6 -1.3
  Others 0 Steady 156,126 4.7 —
Total 74 Turnout 3,321,048

South East

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Conservative 54 -25 1,817,343 41.9 -13.1
Labour 22 +18 1,264,778 29.1 +10.2
Liberal Democrats 7 +7 1,012,418 23.3 -1.4
  Others 0 Steady 247,069 5.7 —
Total 83 Turnout 4,341,608

South West

Party Seats Votes
Total Gained Lost Net Total % Change (%)
Conservative 22 -17 1,020,635 36.7 -10.8
Liberal Democrats 14 +8 869,486 31.3 -0.1
Labour 15 +9 734,361 26.4 +7.2
  Others 0 Steady 153,564 5.5 —
Total 51 Turnout 2,778,046

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Conservative party leader John Major resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party on 22 June 1995 to face critics in his party and government, and was reelected as Leader on 4 July 1995. Prior to his resignation he had held the post of Leader of the Conservative Party since 28 November 1990.[1]

References

  1. ^ "1995: Major wins Conservative leadership". BBC News. 4 July 1995.
  2. ^ a b "General election results 1 May 1997". 9 May 1997. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  3. ^ "GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS, 1 MAY 1997" (PDF). House of Commons Information Office. London. February 1999. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2021.
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