Links
Many of the sites set up to present the development of the campaign offer full results and analysis: the BBC, the Guardian, Keele's Department of Politics, ge97, unofficial pages of General Election information, Web13 and UKOnLine. Also a Scottish look at the election, a chance to "rock the vote" and an opportunity provided by the New Statesman to select the Cabinet. Also new: Julian White's page, also at Keele, now has Conservative, Labour and Liberal manifestos since 1945 in full text format. A few thoughts on The Sun Backs Blair. See below for text versions of Labour and Conservative manifestos. Click for Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem manifesto pages.
Results and analysis
Total constituencies in the new parliament: 659 (previous parliament 651)
| Party | Seats | % vote | Gains/losses |
| Labour (Tony Blair) | 419* | 44.4% | +146 |
| Conservative (William Hague) | 165 | 31.4% | -178 |
| Liberal democrats (Paddy Ashdown) | 46 | 17.2% | +29 |
| Scottish National Party (SNP) (Alex Salmond) | 6 | 2% | |
| Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalists) | 4 | 0,5% | |
| Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) (David Trimble) | 10 | ||
| SDLP (John Hume) | 3 | ||
| Sinn Fein (Gerry Adams) | 2 | ||
| Democratic Unionists (Ian Paisley) | 2 | ||
| UK Unionists | 1 | ||
| Independent | 1 |
* including Betty Boothroyd, the Speaker
swing to Labour since the 1992 election: 10.6%, overall turnout 71%. Government majority over all other parties: 179
(source: FCO Survey of Current Affairs, May 1997, p. 154)
Labour government:
Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury: Tony Blair
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions: John Prescott
Chancellor of the Exchequer: Gordon Brown (Finance Minister, chief Minister at the Treasury)
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Robin Cook
Lord Chancellor: Lord Irvine of Lairg
Secretary of State for the Home Department: Jack Straw
Secretary of State for Education and Employment: David Blunkett
President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: Margaret Beckett
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: Jack Cunningham
Secretary of State for Scotland: Donald Dewar
Secretary of State for Defence: George Robertson
Secretary of State for Health: Frank Dobson
President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons: Ann Taylor
Secretary of State for National Heritage: Chris Smith
Secretary of State for Social Security: Harriet Harman
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland: Marjorie ("Mo") Mowlam
Secretary of State for Wales: Ron Davies
Secretary of State for International Development: Clare Short
Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords: Lord Richard
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: David Clark
Minister of Transport: Gavin Strang
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Alistair Darling
(source: FCO Survey of Current Affairs, May 1997, p. 154)
Women members: 120
Statistics and analysis from Guardian/Observer election web site:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Share of the Vote
Labour 44.4% Conservative31.4% LibDem 17.2% Others 7.0% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Parliamentary Labour Party's 419 members
318 men and 101 women Source: The Observer
Occupation:
Education:
239 (57%) went to university. 68 (16%) went to 'Oxbridge'.
Age:
The oldest Labour MP is Robert Sheldon (73), while the youngest is Chris Leslie (24). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majorities under 1,000
Source: David Boothroyd
Rank Member (Party, Constituency) Majority
Her Majesty's Opposition
John Major resigned on May 2. Kenneth Clarke (former Chancellor of the Exchequer) has announced that he would be standing for the leadershp of the Conservative Party. Michael Heseltine, who was Deputy Prime Minister and widely expected to stand for the leadership, has had to announce that he will not be running after he was taken to hospital suffering chest pains (Michael Heseltine had a heart attck a few years ago). Michael Portillo, the former Defence Minister, was expected to be a candidate for the leadership, until his unexpected defeat in the general election. John Redwood, who stood against John Major over Europe, was also a candidate. However, victory went finally to the much less well-known William Hague.
Complete analysis of the election campaign will be available from the book David Butler is devoting to the subject, as he has done for all the general elections since 1951. This is due in December 1997.
Last updated 19 November 1997