1997 General election

• Key Points: (Blair - PM: 1997-2007)

  • 1997= landslide victory for New Labour over Major's conservatives:
  • Because, the Conservative party suffered internal divisions, poor leadership poor handling of 90s financial crises
  • Blair modernised the Labour party, made it more appealing to middle class voters.
  • The party had moved away from traditional policies such as nationalism and emphasised constitutional reform (Constitutional Reform Act 2005!!!) - similar to lib dems, encouraging tactical voting.
  • STATS:
  • LABOUR = 418 seats (+145 seats = 43.2 %) vs TORIES 165 (-178 seats)
• Age:

  • Highest percentage won by labour = 18-34 age group, particularly seen in females (53% vs the 24% that voted Conservative)
• Media:

  • Turned against Conservatives - they had many well publicized financial and sexual scandals
  • A well-known case was the 'Cash for Questions' affair in the 1990s where two Conservative Members of Parliament were accused of taking cash bribes in exchange for asking parliamentary questions. This scandal became emblematic of the term 'Tory Sleaze.'
  • Labour had a well polished media campaign that focused on Blair
• Gender:

  • The gap between male and female voting habits had closed by 1997, 45/44 for labour.
  • More women were working in the public sector by the 90s
  • Labour had family-friendly policies, such as free nursery places
• Class:

  • Blair appealed to not only working class but also middle class voters
• Employment status

  • 45% of those in all types of employment voted for Labour, as did 64% of the unemployed
  • This stat was lower for people worker in the private sector and self-employed people.
  • Tory vote (15% of unemployed, 30% of the employed)
• Ethnicity

  • 70% of all non-white voters voted for Labour in 1997 vs 18% for the Tories