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1997 United Kingdom general election in England

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1997 United Kingdom general election in England
← 1992
1 May 1997 (1997-05-01)
2001 →
All 529 English seats to the House of Commons
Turnout71.4% (Decrease 6.6 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Tony Blair John Major Paddy Ashdown
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader since 21 July 1994 27 November 1990[a] 16 July 1988
Leader's seat Sedgefield Huntingdon Yeovil
Last election 195 seats, 33.9% 319 seats, 45.5% 10 seats, 19.2%
Seats before 196† 324† 9†
Seats won 328 165 34
Seat change Increase 132* Decrease 159* Increase 25*
Popular vote 11,347,882 8,780,881 4,677,565
Percentage 43.5% 33.7% 18.0%
Swing Increase 9.6 pp Decrease 11.8 pp Decrease 1.2 pp
†Notional 1992 results if held on the 1997 boundaries
*Indicates boundary change - so this is a notional figure.

On Thursday 1 May 1997, the 1997 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 659 members of the House of Commons, with 529 constituencies being in England. Under Tony Blair, the Labour Party won a landslide majority of English seats, the first time since 1966 that Labour had won an overall majority of English seats.[1] The England result, together with even larger landslide Labour results in Scotland and Wales, gave Labour the biggest majority for any single party since 1931. Blair subsequently formed the first Labour government since 1979, beginning 13 years of Labour government.

Candidates

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Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1997 general election in England.[2][3][4]

Affiliation Candidates
Conservative and Unionist Party 528
Labour Party 527
Liberal Democrats 527
Referendum Party 445
UK Independence Party 182
Natural Law Party 160
Green Party of England and Wales 85
Others 491
Total 2,945

Results

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Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 3281331Increase 13262.011,347,88243.5Increase 9.6
Conservative 1650159Decrease 15931.28,780,88133.7Decrease 11.8
Liberal Democrats 34261Increase 256.44,677,56518.0Decrease 1.3
Referendum 0New—746,6242.9New
UKIP 0New—103,5210.4New
Independent 110Increase 10.269,4640.3Increase 0.2
Green 000Steady—60,0130.2Decrease 0.4
Liberal 000Steady—44,5160.2Steady
Socialist Labour 0New—44,1140.2New
BNP 000Steady—35,1810.1Increase 0.1
Natural Law 000Steady—25,9580.1Decrease 0.1
Independent Labour 000Steady—24,4470.1Steady
Speaker 110Increase10.224,4470.1Steady
Ind. Conservative 000Steady—18,6670.1Steady
ProLife Alliance 0New—13,8900.1New
  Others and Independents 0N/a—42,0200.2N/a
Total 529 0 100.0 26,058,712 100.0 0.0
Registered voters, and turnout 71.4[5] Decrease 6.6
Popular vote
Labour
 
 43.5%
Conservative
 
 33.7%
Liberal Democrats
 
 18.0%
Referendum
 
 2.9%
Other
 
 2.1%
Parliament seats
Labour
 
 62.0%
Conservative
 
 31.2%
Liberal Democrats
 
 6.4%
Other
 
 0.4%

By region

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Regional vote shares and changes are sourced from the House of Commons Library.[6] The results are based on the regions of England established in 1994; however, the results in Merseyside were recorded separately from North West England, despite being part of the region.

The number of seats for each region that were changed under the fourth periodic review of Westminster constituencies are indicated respectively.

North East England

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Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 2830Increase393.3862,26264.0Increase10.7
Conservative 103Decrease33.3266,29419.8Decrease11.0
Liberal Democrats 100Steady3.3169,27012.6Decrease2.9
  Others 000Steady0.048,7643.6Increase3.2
Total 30 Steady 1,346,590

North West England

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 49130Increase1381.71,499,51851.5Increase9.0
Conservative 9014Decrease1415.0859,43629.5Decrease11.3
Liberal Democrats 100Steady1.7421,02514.5Decrease1.0
  Others 110Increase11.7130,7304.5Increase3.3
Total 60 Increase4 2,910,709

Merseyside

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 1530Increase393.8442,36664.0Increase10.4
Conservative 004Decrease40.0141,12019.8Decrease9.3
Liberal Democrats 110Increase16.2103,15212.6Decrease2.4
  Others 000Steady0.028,1583.6Increase1.3
Total 16 Decrease1 714,796

Yorkshire and the Humber

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 47130Increase1383.91,339,17051.9Increase7.6
Conservative 7015Decrease1512.5720,77128.0Decrease10.0
Liberal Democrats 220Increase23.6412,21616.0Decrease0.8
  Others 000Steady0.0106,0164.1Increase3.2
Total 56 Increase2 2,578,173

East Midlands

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 30150Increase1568.21,097,63947.8Increase10.4
Conservative 14014Decrease1531.8800,95834.9Decrease11.7
Liberal Democrats 000Steady0.0311,26413.6Decrease1.7
  Others 000Steady0.084,8893.7Increase3.0
Total 44 Increase2 2,294,750

West Midlands

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 43150Increase1572.91,326,82247.0Increase8.2
Conservative 14017Decrease1723.7953,46533.7Decrease11.0
Liberal Democrats 110Increase11.7388,80713.8Decrease1.3
  Others 110Increase11.7156,7315.5Increase4.1
Total 59 Increase1 2,825,825

East of England

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Conservative 33019Decrease1958.91,164,77739.5Decrease13.0
Labour 22180Increase1839.31,137,63738.6Increase12.2
Liberal Democrats 110Increase11.8504,41617.1Decrease2.7
  Others 000Steady0.0140,3374.8Increase3.5
Total 56 Increase5 2,947,167

Greater London

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Labour 57250Increase2577.01,643,32949.5Increase12.4
Conservative 11030Decrease3014.91,036,08231.2Decrease14.1
Liberal Democrats 650Increase58.1485,51114.6Decrease1.3
  Others 000Steady0.0156,1264.7Increase3.0
Total 74 Decrease10 3,321,048

South East England

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Conservative 54025Decrease2565.11,817,34341.9Decrease13.1
Labour 22180Increase1826.51,264,77829.1Increase10.2
Liberal Democrats 770Increase78.41,012,41823.3Decrease1.4
  Others 000Steady0.0247,0695.7Increase4.2
Total 83 Increase5 4,341,608

South West England

[edit]
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)
Conservative 22017Decrease1743.11,020,63536.7Decrease10.8
Liberal Democrats 1480Increase827.5869,48631.3Decrease0.1
Labour 1590Increase929.4734,36126.4Increase7.2
  Others 000Steady0.0153,5645.5Increase3.7
Total 51 Increase3 2,778,046


See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Major resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party on 22 June 1995 to face critics in his party and government, and was re-elected as Leader on 4 July 1995

References

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  1. ↑ "General election results 1 May 1997". 9 May 1997. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Cracknell, Richard; Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 21. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  3. ↑ "UK General Elections Results 1832-2019". Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.
  5. ↑ Cracknell, Richard; Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 29. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS, 1 MAY 1997" (PDF). House of Commons Information Office. London. February 1999. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2021.
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