Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
1997 Election (Landslide victory of New Labour which brought about 13…
1997 Election
Landslide victory of New Labour which brought about 13 years of Labour government.
Tony Blair was prime minister until 2007 when he was succeeded by Gordon Brown
Labour: 418 seats
Conservative: 165 seats
71.4% turnout
Liberal: 46 seats
Majority: 179 seats
Party policies and manifesto
Tony Blair drove forward the policy of modernisation
Brown promised to be financially responsible against the 'tax and spend' reputation of Labour
Labour won the endorsement of The Sun and The Times
Interest of 'Middle England" at heart
No big difference between Labour and Conservative
The election campaign
Labour developed a professional vote winning machine
Employed PR experts, used focus groups and targeted marginal rather than safe seats
The party's lead in opinion polls actually declined in the course of the campaign
Labour's vote in target seats increased by an average of 12.5% but 13.4% in the constituencies it neglected
The wider political context
Labour could not have won on such a large scale without the damage inflicted by the Conservatives on themselves
Turnout in 1997 was relatively low at 71%
Conservatives had their worst election since 1832
'Black Wednesday'
Labour was ahead of the Conservatives from 1992
Weak leadership was fatal for the Conservatives