1979 United Kingdom general election

UK general election 1979

1979 United Kingdom general electionFile:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg

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| <- Oct 1974 | 3 May 1979 | 1983 ->

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<- outgoing members

elected members ->

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All 635 seats in the House of Commons
318 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout| 76.0%, Increase3.2%
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

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| File:Margaret Thatcher at White House (cropped).jpg | File:James Callaghan ppmsca.53218 (cropped).tif | File:DavidSteel1987 cropped.jpg
Leader  | Margaret Thatcher | James Callaghan | David Steel
Party  | Conservative | Labour | Liberal
Leader since  | 11 February 1975 | 5 April 1976 | 7 July 1976
Leader's seat  | Finchley | Cardiff South East | Roxburgh, Selkirk
and Peebles
Last election  | 277 seats, 35.8%  | 319 seats, 39.2%  | 13 seats, 18.3%
Seats won  | 339 | 269[a] | 11
Seat change  | Increase62  | 50  | 2
Popular vote  | 13,697,923 | 11,532,218  | 4,313,804
Percentage  | 43.9% | 36.9%  | 13.8%
Swing  | Increase8.1%  | 2.3%  | 4.5%

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File:UK General Election, 1979.svg

Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results

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File:House of Commons elected members, 1979.svg

Composition of the House of Commons after the election

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| Prime Minister before election

James Callaghan
Labour

| Prime Minister after election

Margaret Thatcher
Conservative

|

The 1979 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons.

The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 44 seats. The election was the first of four consecutive election victories for the Conservative Party, and Thatcher became the United Kingdom's and Europe's first elected female head of government, marking the beginning of 18 years in government for the Conservatives and 18 years in opposition for Labour. Unusually, the date chosen coincided with the 1979 local elections. The local government results provided some source of comfort to the Labour Party, who recovered some lost ground from local election reversals in previous years, despite losing the general election. The parish council elections were pushed back a few weeks.

The previous parliamentary term had begun in October 1974, when Harold Wilson led Labour to a majority of three seats, seven months after forming a minority government following a hung parliament and the failure of Edward Heath's Conservative government to form a coalition with the Liberals. Wilson had previously led the party in government from October 1964 to June 1970, and had served as party leader since February 1963.

However, after just two years back in Downing Street he had resigned as Prime Minister, and was succeeded by James Callaghan, and within a year the government's narrow parliamentary majority had gone. Callaghan made agreements with the Liberals and later the Ulster Unionists, as well as the Scottish and Welsh nationalists, in order to remain in power. This pact lasted until July 1978.

However, on 28 March 1979, following the defeat of the Scottish devolution referendum, Thatcher tabled a motion of no confidence in Callaghan's Labour government, which was passed by just one vote (311 to 310), triggering a general election five months before the end of the government's term.

The Labour campaign was hampered by a series of industrial disputes and strikes during the winter of 1978–79, known as the Winter of Discontent, and the party focused its campaign on support for the National Health Service and full employment. After intense media speculation that a general election would be held before the end of 1978, Callaghan had announced early in the autumn of that year that a general election would not take place that year, having received private polling data which suggested a parliamentary majority was unlikely.[1]

The Conservative campaign employed the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and pledged to control inflation as well as curbing the power of the trade unions. The Conservatives also ran their campaign on the theme that "Labour Isn't Working" (unemployment reached a 40-year high of 1.5 million during 1978). The Liberal Party was damaged by allegations that its former leader Jeremy Thorpe had been involved in a homosexual affair, and had conspired to murder his former lover. The Liberals were now being led by David Steel, meaning that all three major parties entered the election with a new leader.

The election saw a 5.2% swing from Labour to the Conservatives, the largest swing since the 1945 election, which Clement Attlee won for Labour. Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister, and Callaghan was replaced as Labour leader by Michael Foot in 1980. Results for the election were broadcast live on the BBC, and presented by David Dimbleby and Robin Day, with Robert McKenzie on the "Swingometer", and further analysis provided by David Butler.[2] It was the first general election to feature Rick Wakeman's song "Arthur" during the BBC's coverage.

Because of the anaemic economic and social backdrop in this election, it presaged the 1980 United States presidential election which occurred in 18 months later in which under similar circumstances, incumbent US President Jimmy Carter, like James Callaghan, was also defeated by Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.

Future Prime Minister John Major, who went on to succeed Thatcher in November 1990, entered Parliament at this election, retaining the Huntingdonshire seat in Cambridgeshire for the Conservatives. Jeremy Thorpe, Shirley Williams and Barbara Castle were all among the members of parliament who resigned or lost their seats.

* Feb 1974 election
* MPs

* Oct 1974 election
* MPs

* 1979 election
* MPs

* 1983 election
* MPs

* 1987 election
* MPs

## Contents

* 1 Timeline
* 2 Background
* 2.1 Campaign
* 2.1.1 Labour
* 2.1.2 Conservatives
* 3 Opinion polling
* 4 Results
* 4.1 Votes summary
* 4.2 Seats summary
* 5 Incumbents defeated
* 6 See also
* 7 Notes
* 8 References
* 8.1 Sources
* 9 Further reading
* 10 External links
* 10.1 Manifestos

## Timeline[edit | edit source]

After suffering a vote of no confidence on 28 March 1979, Prime Minister James Callaghan was forced to announce that he would request a dissolution of Parliament to bring about a general election. The key dates were as follows:

Saturday 7 April | Dissolution of the 47th Parliament and campaigning officially begins; 2,576 candidates enter to contest 635 seats

|

Wednesday 2 May | Campaigning officially ends
Thursday 3 May | Polling day
Friday 4 May | The Conservative Party wins power with a majority of 43
Wednesday 9 May | The 48th Parliament assembles
Tuesday 15 May | State Opening of Parliament

## Background[edit | edit source]

Britain's economy during the 1970s was so weak that Labour minister James Callaghan warned his fellow Cabinet members in 1974 of the possibility of "a breakdown of democracy", telling them: "If I were a young man, I would emigrate."[3] Callaghan succeeded Harold Wilson as the Labour prime minister after the latter's surprise resignation in April 1976. By March 1977, Labour had become a minority government after two by-election defeats cost them the three-seat majority they had won in October 1974, and from March 1977 to August 1978 Callaghan governed by an agreement with the Liberal Party through the Lib–Lab pact. Callaghan had considered calling an election in the autumn of 1978,[4] but ultimately decided that imminent tax cuts, and a possible economic upturn in 1979, could favour his party at the polls and delayed the election until the following year. Although published opinion polls suggested that he might win,[5] private polls commissioned by the Labour Party from MORI had suggested the two main parties had much the same level of support.[1]

However, events would soon overtake the Labour government and prove Callaghan's decision to delay an election to be a costly mistake. A series of industrial disputes in the winter of 1978–79, dubbed the "Winter of Discontent", led to widespread strikes across the country and seriously hurt Labour's standings in the polls while boosting support for the Conservative opposition. When the Scottish National Party (SNP) withdrew support for the Scotland Act 1978, a vote of no confidence was held and passed by one vote on 28 March 1979, forcing Callaghan to call a general election. As the previous election had been held in October 1974, Labour could have held on until the autumn of 1979 if it had not been for the lost confidence vote.

Margaret Thatcher had won her party's 1975 leadership election over former leader Edward Heath, taking over the leadership of the party in February 1975, four months after the party's failure to win the October 1974 election. Heath had led the party for a decade but lost three of the four elections he contested.

David Steel had replaced Jeremy Thorpe as leader of the Liberal Party in 1976, after allegations of homosexuality and conspiracy to murder his former lover forced Thorpe to resign. The Thorpe affair led to a fall in the Liberal vote, after what had been thought to be a breakthrough in the February 1974 election.

### Campaign[edit | edit source]

This was the first election since 1959 to feature three new leaders for the main political parties. The three main parties all advocated cutting income tax. Labour and the Conservatives did not specify the exact thresholds of income tax they would implement but the Liberals did, claiming they would have income tax starting at 20% with a top rate of 50%.[6]

Without explicitly mentioning Thatcher's sex, Callaghan was (as Christian Caryl later wrote) "a master at sardonically implying that whatever the leader of the opposition said was made even sillier by the fact that it was said by a woman". Thatcher used the tactics that had defeated her other male opponents: constantly studying, sleeping only a few hours a night, and exploiting her femininity to appear as someone who understood housewives' household budgets.[7]

A proposal for the two main party leaders to participate in two televised debates was put forward by former Labour MP turned broadcaster Brian Walden. These would have been produced by LWT and were planned to be shown on ITV on 22 & 29 April 1979. While James Callaghan immediately accepted Walden's proposal, Margaret Thatcher decided to "wait a few days before replying" to the invitation. According to The Glasgow Herald, Some of Mrs Thatcher's advisers were concerned that she had more to lose from such debates, fearing that it would lead to a "presidential-style 'Her or me' campaign" which would see policy issues become of less importance. However it was also reported that the danger of declining was that Mrs Thatcher would be charged by Labour as being "scared" to face the Prime Minister.[8] At the insistence of the Liberals, their leader David Steel was also invited by LWT to take part, and accepted the offer. However, Mrs Thatcher declined the offer to take part, saying that the election was for a government, not a president, which meant that the debates did not go ahead.[9]

#### Labour[edit | edit source]

The Labour campaign reiterated their support for the National Health Service and full employment and focused on the damage they believed the Conservatives would do to the country. In an early campaign broadcast, Callaghan asked: "The question you will have to consider is whether we risk tearing everything up by the roots." Towards the end of Labour's campaign, Callaghan claimed a Conservative government "would sit back and just allow firms to go bankrupt and jobs to be lost in the middle of a world recession" and that the Conservatives were "too big a gamble to take".[10]

The Labour Party manifesto, The Labour way is the better way, was issued on 6 April. Callaghan presented four priorities:

1. "We must keep a curb on inflation and prices";
2. "we will carry forward the task of putting into practice the new framework to improve industrial relations that we have hammered out with the TUC";
3. "we give [sic] a high priority to working for a return to full employment";
4. "we are deeply concerned to enlarge people's freedom"; and "we will use Britain's influence to strengthen world peace and defeat world poverty".

#### Conservatives[edit | edit source]

The Conservatives campaigned on economic issues, pledging to control inflation and to reduce the increasing power of the trade unions who supported mass strikes. They also employed the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi who had created the "Labour Isn't Working" poster.

The Conservative campaign was focused on gaining support from traditional Labour voters who had never voted Conservative before, first-time voters, and people who had voted Liberal in 1974.[11] Thatcher's advisers, Gordon Reece and Timothy Bell, co-ordinated their presentation with the editor of The Sun, Larry Lamb. The Sun printed a series of articles by disillusioned former Labour ministers (Reg Prentice, Richard Marsh, Lord George-Brown, Alfred Robens and Lord Chalfont) detailing why they had switched their support to Thatcher. She explicitly asked Labour voters for their support when she launched her campaign in Cardiff, claiming that Labour was now extreme.[12] Choosing to start her campaign in the strongly Labour-supporting city was part of Thatcher's strategy of appealing to skilled manual workers (NRS social group C2), whom both parties had previously seen as certain Labour voters; she thought that many of these would support her promises to reduce unions' power and enact the Right to Buy their homes.[7] An analysis of the election result showed that the Conservatives gained an 11% swing among the skilled working class (the C2s) and a 9% swing amongst the unskilled working class (the DEs).[13]

Thatcher's stance on immigration in the late 1970s (following the vast immigration from Asian and African-Caribbean nations during the 1950s and 1960s) was perceived as part of a rising racist public discourse,[14] As Leader of the Opposition, Thatcher believed that the National Front (NF) was winning over large numbers of Conservative voters with warnings against floods of immigrants. Her strategy was to undermine the NF narrative by acknowledging that many of its voters had serious concerns in need of addressing. The National Front had a relatively small following and did not win any seats in parliament.

Thatcher criticised Labour immigration policy in January 1978, with the goal of attracting voters away from the NF and to the Conservatives.[15] Her rhetoric was followed by an increase in Conservative support at the expense of the NF. Critics on the left reacted by accusing her of pandering to racism.[16] Sociologists Mark Mitchell and Dave Russell responded that Thatcher had been badly misinterpreted, arguing that race was never an important focus of Thatcherism.[17] Throughout her premiership both major parties took similar positions on immigration policy,[18] having in 1981 passed the British Nationality Act with bipartisan support.[19] No policies aimed at restricting immigration were passed or proposed by her government, and the subject of race was never highlighted by Thatcher in any of her major speeches as Prime Minister.[20] Although Thatcher had pledged to address concerns felt by NF voters including matters related to immigration and presided over a period of disaffected race relations early in her premiership, the Conservative Party under her leadership actively began reaching out to ethnic minority voters ahead of the 1983 general election.[21]

The Conservative manifesto, drafted by Chris Patten and Adam Ridley and edited by Angus Maude, reflected Thatcher's views and was issued on 11 April.[22] It promised five major policies:

1. "to restore the health of our economic and social life, by controlling inflation and striking a fair balance between the rights and duties of the trade union movement";
2. "to restore incentives so that hard work pays, success is rewarded and genuine new jobs are created in an expanding economy";
3. "to uphold Parliament and the rule of law";
4. "to support family life, by helping people to become home-owners, raising the standards of their children's education and concentrating welfare services on the effective support of the old, the sick, the disabled and those who are in real need"; and
5. "to strengthen Britain's defences and work with our allies to protect our interests in an increasingly threatening world".[23]

## Opinion polling[edit | edit source]

Main article: Opinion polling for the 1979 United Kingdom general election

Opinion polling for UK general elections

February 1974 election
Opinion polls
October 1974 election
Opinion polls
1979 election
Opinion polls
1983 election
Opinion polls
1987 election
Opinion polls

File:Opinion polling for the 1979 United Kingdom general election.png

Conservatives

Labour

Liberals

## Results[edit | edit source]

In the end, the overall swing of 5.2% was the largest since 1945, and gave the Conservatives a workable majority of 44 for the country's first female Prime Minister. The Conservative victory in 1979 also marked a change in government which would continue for 18 years, including the entire 1980s, until the Labour victory of 1997. It marked a period of political stability in the United Kingdom following four changes of government in the space of 15 years. Although the Conservatives would go on to win more seats under Thatcher in 1983 and 1987, and again under Boris Johnson in 2019, the Tories have never since matched the 43.9% of the popular vote they recorded in 1979.

The SNP saw a massive collapse in support, losing 9 of its 11 MPs. The Liberal Party had a disappointing election; its scandal-hit former leader Jeremy Thorpe lost his seat in North Devon to the Conservatives.

↓ 339 | 269 | 11 | 16

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Conservative | Labour | Lib | O

File:1979 UK parliament.svg

UK General Election 1979  | Candidates  | Votes

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Party  | Leader  | Stood  | Elected  | Gained  | Unseated  | Net  | % of total  | %  | No.  | Net %
| Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | 622  | 339  | 63  | 1 | +62  | 53.4  | 43.9  | 13,697,923  | +8.1
| Labour | James Callaghan | 623  | 269[a] | 4  | 54  | −50  | 42.4  | 36.9  | 11,532,218  | −2.3
| Liberal | David Steel | 577  | 11  | 1 | 3  | −2  | 1.7  | 13.8  | 4,313,804  | −4.5
| SNP | William Wolfe | 71  | 2  | 0  | 9  | −9  | 0.31  | 1.6  | 504,259  | −1.3
| Ulster Unionist | Harry West | 11  | 5  | 1 | 2  | −1  | 0.79  | 0.8  | 254,578  | −0.1
| National Front | John Tyndall | 303  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.6  | 191,719  | +0.2
| Plaid Cymru | Gwynfor Evans | 36  | 2  | 0  | 1 | −1  | 0.31  | 0.4  | 132,544  | −0.2
| SDLP | Gerry Fitt | 9  | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0.16  | 0.4  | 126,325  | −0.2
| Alliance | Oliver Napier | 12  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.3  | 82,892  | +0.1
| DUP | Ian Paisley | 5  | 3  | 2  | 0  | +2  | 0.47  | 0.2  | 70,795  | −0.1
| Ecology | Jonathan Tyler | 53  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 39,918  | +0.1
| UUUP | Ernest Baird | 2  | 1 | 1 | 0  | +1  | 0.16  | 0.1  | 39,856  | N/A
| Ulster Popular Unionist | James Kilfedder | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0  | +1  | 0.16  | 0.1  | 36,989  | +0.1
| Independent Labour | N/A | 11  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 26,058  | −0.1
| Irish Independence | Fergus McAteer and Frank McManus | 4  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 23,086  | N/A
| Independent Republican | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 22,398  | −0.1
| Independent | N/A | 62  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 19,531  | +0.1
| Communist | Gordon McLennan | 38  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 16,858  | 0.0
| SLP | Jim Sillars | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 13,737  | N/A
| Workers Revolutionary | Michael Banda | 60  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 12,631  | +0.1
| Workers' Party | Tomás Mac Giolla | 7  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.1  | 12,098  | 0.0
| Independent SDLP | N/A | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 10,785  | N/A
| Unionist Party NI | Anne Dickson | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 8,021  | −0.1
| Ind. Conservative | N/A | 7  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 4,841  | 0.0
| NI Labour | Alan Carr | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 4,441  | 0.0
| Mebyon Kernow | Richard Jenkin | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 4,164  | 0.0
| Democratic Labour | Dick Taverne | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 3,785  | −0.1
| Wessex Regionalist | Viscount Weymouth | 7  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 3,090  | N/A
| Socialist Unity | N/A | 10  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 2,834  | N/A
| United Labour | Paddy Devlin | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 1,895  | N/A
| Independent Democratic  | N/A | 5  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 1,087  | N/A
| United Country | Edmund Iremonger  | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 1,033  | N/A
| Independent Liberal | N/A | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 1,023  | 0.0
| Independent Socialist  | N/A | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 770  | 0.0
| Workers (Leninist) | Royston Bull  | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 767  | 0.0
| New Britain | Dennis Delderfield  | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 717  | 0.0
| Fellowship | Ronald Mallone  | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 531  | 0.0
| More Prosperous Britain | Tom Keen  | 6  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 518  | 0.0
| United English National | John Kynaston  | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 238  | 0.0
| Cornish Nationalist | James Whetter | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 227  | N/A
| Social Democrat | Donald Kean  | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 144  | 0.0
| English National | Frank Hansford-Miller | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 142  | 0.0
| The Dog Lovers' Party  | Auberon Waugh | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 79  | 0.0
| Socialist (GB) | N/A | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A | 0.0  | 78  | 0.0
All parties shown.[b][c] Government's new majority | 43

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Total votes cast  | 31,221,362
Turnout  | 76%

### Votes summary[edit | edit source]

| Popular vote

|  |
Conservative |

| 43.87%
Labour |

| 36.94%
Liberal |

| 13.82%
Scottish National |

| 1.62%
Others |

| 3.76%

### Seats summary[edit | edit source]

| Parliamentary seats

|  |
Conservative |

| 53.39%
Labour |

| 42.36%
Liberal |

| 1.73%
Others |

| 2.20%

The disproportionality of the House of Commons in the 1979 election was "11.57" according to the Gallagher index, mainly between the Conservatives and the Liberal Party.

The disproportionality of the House of Commons in the 1979 election was "11.57" according to the Gallagher index, mainly between the Conservatives and the Liberal Party.

## Incumbents defeated[edit | edit source]

Party  | Name  | Constituency  | Office held whilst in Parliament  | Year elected  | Defeated by  | Party

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| Labour | Geoff Edge | Aldridge-Brownhills |  | 1974 | Richard Shepherd |  | Conservative
Eric Moonman | Basildon |  | 1974 | Harvey Proctor |  | Conservative
Alfred Bates | Bebington and Ellesmere Port |  | 1974 | Barry Porter |  | Conservative
Roderick MacFarquhar | Belper |  | 1974 | Sheila Faith |  | Conservative
Raymond Carter | Birmingham Northfield | Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office (1977-1979)  | 1970 | Jocelyn Cadbury |  | Conservative
Tom Litterick | Birmingham Selly Oak |  | 1974 | Anthony Beaumont-Dark |  | Conservative
Syd Tierney | Birmingham Yardley | President of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers | 1974 | David Bevan |  | Conservative
Caerwyn Roderick | Brecon and Radnorshire |  | 1970 | Tom Hooson |  | Conservative
John Ellis | Brigg and Scunthorpe |  | 1974 | Michael Brown |  | Conservative
Ronald Thomas | Bristol North West |  | 1974 | Michael Colvin |  | Conservative
George Rodgers | Chorley |  | 1974 | Den Dover |  | Conservative
Audrey Wise | Coventry South West |  | 1974 | John Butcher |  | Conservative
Sydney Irving | Dartford |  | 1974 | Bob Dunn |  | Conservative
William Molloy | Ealing North |  | 1964 | Harry Greenway |  | Conservative
Bryan Davies | Enfield North |  | 1974 | Tim Eggar |  | Conservative
John Watkinson | Gloucestershire West |  | 1974 | Paul Marland |  | Conservative
John Ovenden | Gravesend |  | 1974 | Tim Brinton |  | Conservative
Robin Corbett | Hemel Hempstead |  | 1974 | Nicholas Lyell |  | Conservative
Alan Lee Williams | Hornchurch |  | 1974 | Robin Squire |  | Conservative
Shirley Williams | Hertford and Stevenage | Secretary of State for Education and Science (1976–1979)  | 1964 | Bowen Wells |  | Conservative
Arnold Shaw | Ilford South |  | 1974 | Neil Thorne |  | Conservative
Terence Walker | Kingswood |  | 1974 | Jack Aspinwall |  | Conservative
Bruce Grocott | Lichfield and Tamworth |  | 1974 | John Heddle |  | Conservative
Margaret Beckett | Lincoln | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Science (1976-1979)  | 1974 | Kenneth Carlisle |  | Conservative
Edward Loyden | Liverpool Garston |  | 1974 | Malcolm Thornton |  | Conservative
Ivor Clemitson | Luton East |  | 1974 | Graham Bright |  | Conservative
Brian Sedgemore | Luton West |  | 1974 | John Carlisle |  | Conservative
John Desmond Cronin | Loughborough |  | 1955 | Stephen Dorrell |  | Conservative
John Tomlinson | Meriden | Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1976-1979)  | 1974 | Iain Mills |  | Conservative
Doug Hoyle | Nelson and Colne |  | 1974 | John Lee |  | Conservative
Edward Bishop | Newark | Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1974–1979)  | 1964 | Richard Alexander |  | Conservative
Maureen Colquhoun | Northampton North |  | 1974 | Antony Marlow |  | Conservative
Evan Luard | Oxford | Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1976-1979)  | 1974 | John Patten |  | Conservative
Arthur Latham | Paddington |  | 1969 | John Wheeler |  | Conservative
Michael Ward | Peterborough |  | 1974 | Brian Mawhinney |  | Conservative
Frank Judd | Portsmouth North | Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1977–1979)  | 1966 | Peter Griffiths |  | Conservative
Ronald Atkins | Preston North |  | 1974 | Robert Atkins |  | Conservative
Hugh Jenkins | Putney | Minister of State for the Arts (1974–1979)  | 1964 | David Mellor |  | Conservative
Robert Bean | Rochester and Chatham |  | 1974 | Peggy Fenner |  | Conservative
Michael Noble | Rossendale |  | 1974 | David Trippier |  | Conservative
William Price | Rugby |  | 1966 | Jim Pawsey |  | Conservative
Bryan Gould | Southampton Test |  | 1974 | James Hill |  | Conservative
Max Madden | Sowerby |  | 1974 | Donald Thompson |  | Conservative
Helene Hayman | Welwyn and Hatfield |  | 1974 | Christopher Murphy |  | Conservative
Gerald Fowler | The Wrekin | Minister of State for the Privy Council Office (1974–1976)  | 1974 | Warren Hawksley |  | Conservative
| SNP | Douglas Henderson | East Aberdeenshire | SNP Spokesman for Employment and Industry  | 1974 | Albert McQuarrie |  | Conservative
Andrew Welsh | South Angus | SNP Spokesperson for Housing  | 1974 | Peter Fraser |  | Conservative
Iain MacCormick | Argyllshire |  | 1974 | John Mackay |  | Conservative
Hamish Watt | Banffshire |  | 1974 | David Myles |  | Conservative
Margaret Ewing | East Dunbartonshire |  | 1974 | Norman Hogg |  | Labour
George Thompson | Galloway |  | 1974 | Ian Lang |  | Conservative
Winnie Ewing | Moray and Nairn | SNP Spokesperson for External Affairs and EEC  | 1974 | Alex Pollock |  | Conservative
Douglas Crawford | Perth and East Perthshire |  | 1974 | Bill Walker |  | Conservative
George Reid | Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire |  | 1974 | Martin O'Neill |  | Labour
| Conservative | Teddy Taylor | Glasgow Cathcart | Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland (1976-1979)  | 1964 | John Maxton |  | Labour
Andrew MacKay | Birmingham Stechford |  | 1977 | Terry Davis |  | Labour
Richard Page | Workington |  | 1976 | Dale Campbell-Savours |  | Labour
Tim Smith | Ashfield |  | 1977 | Frank Haynes |  | Labour
Robin Hodgson | Walsall North |  | 1976 | David Winnick |  | Labour
| Liberal | Jeremy Thorpe | North Devon | Leader of the Liberal Party (1967–1976)  | 1959 | Tony Speller |  | Conservative
Emlyn Hooson | Montgomeryshire |  | 1962 | Delwyn Williams |  | Conservative
John Pardoe | North Cornwall | Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party (1976–1979)  | 1966 | Gerry Neale |  | Conservative
| Plaid Cymru | Gwynfor Evans | Carmarthen | President of Plaid Cymru (1945–1981)  | 1974 | Roger Thomas |  | Labour
| SLP | Jim Sillars[24] | South Ayrshire | Leader of the Scottish Labour Party (1976–1979)  | 1970 | George Foulkes |  | Labour
| Ulster Unionist | William Craig | Belfast East |  | 1974 | Peter Robinson |  | DUP

## See also[edit | edit source]

* List of MPs elected in the 1979 United Kingdom general election
* 1979 United Kingdom local elections
* 1979 United Kingdom general election in England
* 1979 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
* 1979 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

## Notes[edit | edit source]

1. ^ a b The seat and vote count figures for Labour given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons
2. ^ The Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party had folded in 1978. Of its three MPs, two joined the Ulster Unionist Party (one held his seat, the other lost to the Democratic Unionist Party) and the third defended and held his seat for the United Ulster Unionist Party.
3. ^ James Kilfedder had been previously elected as an Ulster Unionist MP, but left the party, defending and holding his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. He subsequently founded the Ulster Popular Unionist Party but did not use that label in this election.

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ a b Beckett 2009, p. 460.
2. ^ BBC 1979 Election coverage on YouTube
3. ^ Beckett 2009, p. 175.
4. ^ "1979: Thatcher wins Tory landslide", BBC News, 5 April 2005, retrieved 4 May 2012
5. ^ Hickson & Seldon 2004, p. 293.
6. ^ "The Real Fight is for Britain", psr.Keele.ac.UK, 25 February 1998, archived from the original on 25 May 1998, retrieved 13 May 2010
7. ^ a b Caryl 2014, pp. 3391–3428.
8. ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (3 April 1979). "Thatcher hesitates over TV challenge". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
9. ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (4 April 1979). "Geoffrey Parkhouse, Political Editor, writes". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
10. ^ Young 1990, p. 131.
11. ^ Campbell 2000, p. 432.
12. ^ Speech to Conservative Rally in Cardiff, Margaret Thatcher Foundation, 16 April 1979, retrieved 13 May 2010
13. ^ Butler & Kavanagh 1980, p. 343.
14. ^ Witte (2014), p. 54.
15. ^ Witte (2014), pp. 53–54.
16. ^ Friedman (2006), p. 13.
17. ^ Mitchell & Russell (1989).
18. ^ Ward (2004), p. 128; Vinen (2009), pp. 227, 279.
19. ^ Hansen (2000), pp. 207–208.
20. ^ Anwar (2001).
21. ^ "Black Conservatives: Are the Tories the new party of diversity?". 16 October 2020.
22. ^ Butler & Kavanagh 1980, p. 166.
23. ^ Keesing's Record of World Events, vol. 25, June 1979, p. 29633
24. ^ Elected as a Labour MP

### Sources[edit | edit source]

* Anwar, Muhammad (2001). "The participation of ethnic minorities in British politics". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 27 (3): 533–549. doi:10.1080/136918301200266220. S2CID 144867334.
* Beckett, Andy (2009), When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies, Faber and Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-25226-8
* Butler, David; Kavanagh, Dennis (1980), The British General Election of 1979, London: Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-333-77875-3
* Campbell, John (2000), Margaret Thatcher, Volume One: The Grocer's Daughter, London: Jonathan Cape, ISBN 978-0-224-04097-6
* Caryl, Christian (2014), Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century, Basic Books, ISBN 978-0-465-06564-6
* Friedman, Lester D., ed. (2006). Fires Were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism. Wallflower Press. ISBN 978-1-904764-71-7.
* Hansen, Randall (2000). Citizenship and Immigration in Post-war Britain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-158301-8.
* Hickson, Kevin; Seldon, Anthony (2004), New Labour, Old Labour: The Wilson and Callaghan Governments 1974–1979, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-38161-6
* Mitchell, Mark; Russell, Dave (1989). "Race, the new right and state policy in Britain". Immigrants & Minorities. 8 (1–2): 175–190. doi:10.1080/02619288.1989.9974714.
* Ward, Paul (2004). "A new way of being British". Britishness Since 1870. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-22016-3.
* Vinen, Richard (2009). Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher Era. Simon & Schuster (published 2013). ISBN 978-1-4711-2828-8.
* Witte, Rob (2014), Racist Violence and the State: A Comparative Analysis of Britain, France and the Netherlands, ISBN 978-1-317-88919-9
* Young, Hugo (1990), One of Us: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher, Pan Books, ISBN 978-0-330-31487-9

## Further reading[edit | edit source]

* Butler, David E.; et al. (1980), The British General Election of 1979, the standard scholarly study`{{citation}}`: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
* Campbell, John (2008), Margaret Thatcher, Volume 1: The Grocer's Daughter
* Craig, F.W.S. (1989), British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0-900178-30-2
* Jenkins, Peter (1989), Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era
* McAllister, Ian; Mughan, Anthony (1985), "Attitudes, Issues, and Labour Party Decline in England, 1974–1979", Comparative Political Studies, 18 (1): 37–57, doi:10.1177/0010414085018001002, S2CID 153934506
* Penniman, Howard R. (1981), Britain at the Polls, 1979: A Study of the General Election, p. 345
* Särlvik, Bo; Crewe, Ivor (1983), Decade of Dealignment: The Conservative Victory of 1979 & Electoral Trends in the 1970s, p. 393

## External links[edit | edit source]

* United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 Archived 23 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine

### Manifestos[edit | edit source]

* Conservative manifesto, 1979, 1979 Conservative Party manifesto
* The Labour Way is the Better Way, 1979 Labour Party manifesto
* The Real Fight is for Britain, 1979 Liberal Party manifesto

* v
* t
* e

1979 United Kingdom general election

* MPs elected
* Scotland
* Opinion polling

* Incumbent Prime Minister: James Callaghan (Labour)
* Appointed Prime Minister: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)

Parties elected to
the House of Commons|

* Conservative (Margaret Thatcher)
* Labour (James Callaghan)
* Liberal (David Steel)
* Ulster Unionist Party (Harry West)
* Democratic Unionist Party (Ian Paisley)
* Scottish National Party (William Wolfe)
* Plaid Cymru (Gwynfor Evans)
* Social Democratic and Labour Party (Gerry Fitt)
* United Ulster Unionist Party (Ernest Baird)
* Ulster Popular Unionist Party (James Kilfedder)

Results by area|

* England
* Northern Ireland
* Scotland

See also|

* Thorpe affair
* Labour Isn't Working
* Winter of Discontent
* 1979 Scottish devolution referendum
* 1979 Welsh devolution referendum
* 1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry
* Assassination of Airey Neave
* Thatcherism

1979 United Kingdom local elections

* v
* t
* e

File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg Elections and referendums in the United Kingdom

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* v
* t
* e

Margaret Thatcher

* Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979–1990)
* Leader of the Conservative Party (1975–1990)
* MP for Finchley (1959–1992)

Member of Parliament|

* Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act (1960)
* Circular 10/70 (1970)
* Shadow Cabinet
* "Britain Awake" (1976)
* Vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry (1979)

File:Margaret Thatcher (1983).jpg

Ideology|

* Thatcherism
* Conservatism
* Free market
* Union democracy

Premiership|

* Ministers
* wets and dries
* Cold War
* 1st term
* 2nd–3rd term

| 1st ministry
(1979–1983)|

* "The lady's not for turning" (1980)
* Budget (1981)
* Gang of 25
* Irish hunger strike (1981)
* Falklands War (1982)
* "Rejoice"
* Diana Gould exchange
* "White flags over Port Stanley"

|

2nd ministry
(1983–1987)|

* Brighton hotel bombing (1984)
* GCHQ trade union ban (1984)
* CCSU case
* Miners' strike (1984–85)
* Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
* Local Government Act (1985)
* rate-capping rebellion
* Westland affair (1986)

3rd ministry
(1987–1990)|

* Broadcasting restrictions (1988)
* "Sermon on the Mound" (1988)
* Bruges speech (1988)
* Community Charge (1989–90)
* Poll tax riots
* Gulf War (1990)
* "No. No. No." (1990)
* Resignation Honours (1990)

Party elections|

* 1975
* 1989
* 1990

General elections|

* 1979
* 1983
* 1987

Books|

* The Downing Street Years (1993 autobiography)
* The Path to Power (1995 memoir)
* Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World (2003)

Family|

* Sir Denis Thatcher (husband)
* baronetcy
* Mark Thatcher (son)
* Carol Thatcher (daughter)
* Alfred Roberts (father)
* "We have become a grandmother" (1989)

Cultural depictions|

| Film and
television|

* Anyone for Denis? (1982 TV play)
* Spitting Image (1984–1996 & 2020 TV series)
* The New Statesman (1987–1991 TV series)
* Thatcher: The Final Days (1991 film)
* The Falklands Play (2002 play)
* Jeffrey Archer: The Truth (2002 TV film)
* The Alan Clark Diaries (2004 TV series)
* Pinochet in Suburbia (2006 docudrama)
* The Long Walk to Finchley (2008 film)
* Margaret (2009 film)
* The Queen (2009 TV serial)
* The Iron Lady (2011 film)
* The Hunt for Tony Blair (2011 episode)
* In Search of La Che (2011 film)
* The Crown (2020 TV series)
* Reagan (2022 film)

|

Plays|

* Handbagged (2010, 2013)
* The Audience (2013)

Statues|

* London Guildhall (1998)
* Palace of Westminster (2007)
* Grantham (2022)

See also|

* Let's Start a War
* Thatchergate
* The Ploughman's Lunch

* ← James Callaghan
* John Major →

* Category
* List-Class article Honours
* B-Class article Death and funeral

* v
* t
* e

James Callaghan

Premiership|

* 1976–1979

File:James Callaghan.JPG

General elections|

* 1979

Referenda|

* 1979 Scottish devolution referendum
* 1979 Welsh devolution referendum

Party elections|

* Deputy leadership 1960
* Leadership 1963
* Leadership 1976

Constituencies|

* Cardiff South
* Cardiff South East
* Cardiff South and Penarth

Family|

* Audrey Callaghan (wife)
* Margaret Jay (daughter)
* Peter Jay (son-in-law)

Cultural depictions|

* The Audience (Play, 2013)

Related articles|

* 1976 sterling crisis
* Winter of Discontent
* 1979 vote of no confidence
* Resignation Honours
* Father of the House

* ← Harold Wilson
* Margaret Thatcher →

* Category

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