voting behaviour and media

Question 1

1979 case study

Answer 1

-3 may 1979 thatchers first victory
-the electiopn initated 18 years of conservative rule, uner margaret thatcher up to 1990 and then under john major to 1997 to a loss to tony blair in 97 seeing an end to the 18 year old rule of conservatism
called after james callaghan’s minority labour government lost a vote of no confidence in the HOC - the most recent time this has happened
-thatchers initial majority was modest, but it increased in 1983 and 1987; john major clung to power in teh 1992 election
-%76 turnout with a %43.9 majority
-size of majority 43

Question 2

1997 case study

Answer 2

-1 may 1997 blairs new labour victory
-the landslide victory of new labour, which removed john major’s conservatives from office and opened the way to 13 years of labour government.
-Tony Blair was prime minister until 2007 when he was succeeded by Gordan Brown
-The liberal democrats emerged as a significant third force at westminister
-the conservatives were troubled by ongoing division, poor leadership and an inability to appear relevant to comtemporary society.
-turnout 71.4% and size of majority was a whopping 179
-145+ increase in seats

Question 3

2010 case study

Answer 3

-6 may 2010 the first post-war coalition
-the election that saw Blairs successor, Gordan Brown, removed from office, ending the new Labour era
-David Cameron’s conservatives increased their share of the seats, benefiting from 4 yeas of efforts at modernisation under their new leader
- The conservatives did not gain an independent majority, so had to form a coalition - the first since 1945 - with the liberal democrats. Against predicitions, the coatlition survived a full term, partly due to the Fixed Parliament act on which the liberal democracts had insisted
- Cameron won a slender conservative majority in the 2015 election
- turnout %65.1 and no size of majority due to the coalition