The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd Earl of Liverpool in 1820 to lead a party into three successive election victories.
The Conservatives ran a campaign focusing on lower taxes, a strong economy and strong defence. They also emphasised that unemployment had fallen below 3 million for the first time since 1981, and inflation was standing at 4%, its lowest level for some 20 years. The tabloid media also had strong support for the Conservatives, particularly The Sun, which ran anti-Labour articles with headlines such as: Why I'm backing Kinnock, by Stalin.
The Labour Party, led by Neil Kinnock, was slowly moving towards a more centrist policy platform. The main aim of the Labour party was, arguably, simply to re-establish themselves as the main progressive centre-left alternative to the Conservatives, after the rise of the SDP forced Labour onto the defence. Indeed, the Labour party succeeded in doing so with this general election. The Alliance between the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party was renewed but co-leaders David Owen and David Steel could not agree whether to support either major party in the event of a hung parliament.
The sixth United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 29 February 1820. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 21 April 1820, for a maximum seven-year term from that date. The maximum term could be and normally was curtailed, by the monarch dissolving the Parliament, before its term expired.
Political situation
The Tory leader was the Lord of Liverpool, who had been Prime Minister since his predecessor's assassination in 1812. Liverpool had led his party to two general election victories before that of 1820. The Tory Leader of the House of Commons was Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh.
The Whig Party continued to suffer from weak leadership, particularly in the House of Commons.
In the 1841 United Kingdom general election, there was a big swing as Sir Robert Peel's Conservatives took control of the House of Commons. The Whigs lost votes to the Irish Repeal group. The Chartists picked up only a few votes despite their popular support, because voting was still restricted to a small percentage of the population. Only 3.17% of the total population voted.
The United Kingdom general election of 2010 was held on Thursday, 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system. None of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, won the largest number of votes and seats but still fell 20 seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. This was only the second general election since World War II to return a hung parliament, the first being the February 1974 election. Unlike in 1974, the potential for a hung parliament had this time been widely considered and predicted and both the country and politicians were better prepared for the constitutional process that would follow such a result. The coalition government that was subsequently formed was the first coalition in British history to eventuate directly from an election outcome.
FollowMetro.co.uk’s GeneralElection 2024 live blog for the latest updates ... A few years after the film’s release, a version of LordBuckethead – not played by Jon – went on to stand in the 1987 and 1992 UK general elections.
The idea of “a wall of money” has almost legendary status in UK general elections. Before Margaret Thatcher’s third election victory in 1987, the notion that international investors were just waiting ...
During that time, there have been 10 general election periods in the UK (including the election on 4 July) ...January 1995 and December 2023, during which period there were seven general elections.
FollowMetro.co.uk’s local elections 2024 live blog for the latest updates ... A few years after the film’s release, a version of LordBuckethead – not played by Jon – went on to stand in the 1987 and 1992 UK general elections.
A few years after the film’s release, a version of LordBuckethead – not played by Jon – went on to stand in the 1987 and 1992 UK general elections ... He has, however, run in other elections, including in the 2019 general election.
This means the latest possible date for the next general ... Were polling day to take place in January 2025, it would mean the biggest interval between UK general elections since the Second World War.
