1997 general election

Question 1

stats (%) for labour cons and lib dem

Answer 1

Labour: 43.2%
Conservative: 30.7%
Lib Dem: 16.8%

Question 2

how did Labour manage to gain more votes?

Answer 2

they adopted more centrist policies, which appealed more to the middle class, which were part of the conservatives’ core vote, and the young were also encouraged to vote

Question 3

what are some other factors that led to labour winning?

Answer 3

• the conservative party had been in power for 18 years
• the conservatives had a deep economic recession in the early 1990s, which questioned their competence
• labour appeared to be a younger, fresher party united around the ‘third way’

Question 4

what impact did party leaders have on the 1997 election? give an example

Answer 4

John Major appeared to be grey unexcited and weak, whereas Tony Blair was ‘ young and ‘attractive’ with a clear vision , the Lib Dem leader also had a positive image

Question 5

what was the turnout of the 1997 election? what is its significance?

Answer 5

71%, which is healthy by modern standards, but much lower than typical levels in the past

Question 6

what were the main political issues at the time? and how did labour respond to this?

Answer 6

NHS and the state of education.

labour promised to make huge investments to better both sectors

Blairs: ‘education education education’

Question 7

the campaigns focus from the 2 parties

Answer 7

labour:
- media soundbites: ‘education education education’
- pro-Blair campaign
conservative:
- focused on a negative anti-labour campaign

Question 8

what policies did conservatives focus on

Answer 8

economic recovery

Question 9

what 4 policies did Labour focus on?

Answer 9

• cut class sizes in schools
• introduce fast track punishment for young offenders
• cut NHS waiting lists
• cut VAT on heating and not raise income tax

Question 10

what impact did the opinion poll have?

Answer 10

the 1992 opinion poll left people doubting the reliability of them as it was so incorrect, therefore labour didn’t trust the 1997 one

Question 11

trends in region for 1997 election

Answer 11

• labour gained votes across all regions
• conservatives wiped out in Scotland and Wales and reduced to only 11MPs in london

Question 12

trends in class for 1997 election

Answer 12

labour gained more votes with C1(+19%) and C2 (+15%), although conservatives still kept their AB voters

Question 13

trends in gender for 1997 election

Answer 13

labour closed the gender gap, with men and women equally likely to support labour

Question 14

trends in age for 1997 election

Answer 14

conservatives remained dominant with 65+ but labour won among all other age groups

Question 15

trends with ethnicity for 1997 election (stats %)

Answer 15

labour: 43% white voters . 70% of BAME voters

conservatives: 32% white vote. 18% BAME voters

Question 16

what was the outcome?

Answer 16

a massive defeat for the conservatives. took them 10 years for the party to recover
labour stayed in power for the next 13 years