1979 general election

• What percentage of ABC1 voters supported the Conservative party?

  59%
• What percentage of C2DE voters supported the Labour party?

  45%
• How did male voters lean in terms of party support?

  43% supported Conservative and 40% supported Labour
• What was the Labour party's support among female voters?

  35%
• What percentage of 18-24 year-olds supported the Conservative party?

  42%
• What was Labour's stance on trade unions during the campaign?

  Highlighted its ability to deal with the troublesome trade unions
• Who was the leader of the Labour party during the campaign?

  Callaghan
• What economic policy did Labour take during the campaign?

  Moderate policy on the economy
• What did Labour attempt to do regarding extreme left factions during the campaign?

  Attempted to keep the extreme left factions quiet
• What was the Conservative party's main message regarding Labour?

  ‘Labour isn’t working’ – linked to high unemployment
• What did the Conservatives argue about Britain's performance?

  That Britain could and should be doing better
• What proposal did the Conservatives make regarding social housing?

  Proposed the ‘right to buy’ your council house
• What financial promise did the Conservative party make?

  Promised tax cuts
• How did Thatcher engage with the media during the campaign?

  She appeared in the media, tasting tea and talking to people
• Despite the Conservatives leading in opinion polls, how did Callaghan compare to Thatcher in terms of favorability?

  Callaghan was 20% more favorable as a Prime Minister than Thatcher
• What role did opinion polls play in the election?

  They encouraged Labour voters to turn out and may have led to more Conservatives voting
• What was the readership of The Sun newspaper in 1980?

  1. 9 million
• What was the readership of the Daily Mirror in 1980?

  1. 1 million
• What were the key issues highlighted by the Labour and Conservative parties during the campaign?

  Labour:

  • Ability to deal with trade unions
  • Experience of leader Callaghan
  • Moderate economic policy
  • Keeping extreme left factions quiet

  
  

  Conservative:

  • ‘Labour isn’t working’ linked to unemployment
  • Britain could do better
  • ‘Right to buy’ council houses
  • Promised tax cuts
• How did Thatcher's media presence affect public perception?

  She appeared well to the media
• How did the media influence the election campaign?

  • Thatcher's favorable media presence
  • Opinion polls encouraged voter turnout
  • Newspapers swayed public opinion
  • The Sun (Conservative) had 3.9m readers
  • Daily Mirror (Labour) had 3.1m readers