1992 United Kingdom general election: Difference between revisions

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The general election of April 9, 1992 was the fourth victory in a row for the Conservatives.

Margaret Thatcher had been forced out of office in November 1990 and John Major, poorly regarded by some, succeeded her. During his term leading up to the 1992 elections he oversaw the British involvement in the Gulf War, abolished the disliked poll tax in favour of council tax and signed the Maastricht treaty. Like other leaders of the industrialized world, he failed to halt the economy's slide into recession. Major waited until his Chancellor, Norman Lamont, had delivered a budget before announcing the date of the election on March 11. Some claimed the budget represented populist tax-cutting.

Labour entered the campaign full of confidence, under the leadership of Neil Kinnock the party had undergone a deep reorganisation and modernisation following the failures at the 1987 election. Many opinion polls predicted a slight Labour lead or a hung Parliament.

Labour and the Tories campaigned on the now tradition grounds of taxation and health care. Major became known for standing on a soapbox during his public meetings. Labour were approached by the Liberal Democrats under Paddy Ashdown seeking an alliance, Labour did not clearly commit or refuse but sent out mixed messages.

The actual result was a surprise to many, especially in the media and polling organisations. Turnout at the election, at 77.67 %, was the highest in eighteen years. There was an overall swing of 2.2 % towards Labour, insufficient to gain them victory but something of a boost and also widening the gap between themselves and the LibDems. Nevertheless, despite the reasonable percentage of votes gained, only 0.5 % down on 1987, the actual Conservative majority was quite small and it became progressively smaller across Major's term in office. Nine government ministers had lost their seats as well as the party chairman, Chris Patten.

Kinnock, having twice led his party to defeat, resigned soon after the election; he was accompained by the deputy leader, Roy Hattersley. They were succeeded by John Smith and Margaret Beckett.

Margaret Thatcher, Denis Healey, Nigel Lawson, Geoffrey Howe, Michael Foot, David Owen and Merlyn Rees were all prominent retirees.

Electorate 43,275,316
Turnout 33,614,074
Seats 651

Party	Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
Conservative	14,093,007	336	- 40	41.9
Labour	11,560,484	271	+ 42	34.4
Liberal Democrats	5,999,384	20	- 2	17.8
Others	1,961,199	24	+ 1	5.8

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 The [[general election]] of [[April 9]], [[1992]] was the fourth victory in a row for the [[The Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]].
-[[Margaret Thatcher]] had been forced out of office in November 1990 and the poorly regarded [[John Major]] succeeded her. During his term leading up to the 1992 elections he oversaw the British involvement in the Gulf War, abolished the disliked poll tax in favour of council tax, signed the Maastricht treaty and failed to halt the economy's slide into recession. Major waited until his Chancellor, Norman Lamont, had delivered a populist tax-cutting budget before announcing the date of the election on March 11.
+[[Margaret Thatcher]] had been forced out of office in November 1990 and [[John Major]], poorly regarded by some, succeeded her. During his term leading up to the 1992 elections he oversaw the British involvement in the Gulf War, abolished the disliked poll tax in favour of council tax and signed the Maastricht treaty. Like other leaders of the industrialized world, he failed to halt the economy's slide into recession. Major waited until his Chancellor, Norman Lamont, had delivered a budget before announcing the date of the election on March 11. Some claimed the budget represented populist tax-cutting.
 [[The Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] entered the campaign full of confidence, under the leadership of [[Neil Kinnock]] the party had undergone a deep reorganisation and modernisation following the failures at the 1987 election. Many opinion polls predicted a slight Labour lead or a hung Parliament.
-Labour and the Tories campaigned on the now tradition grounds of taxation and health care. Major actually used a soapbox during his public meetings. Labour were approached by the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] under [[Paddy Ashdown]] seeking an alliance, Labour did not clearly commit or refuse but sent out mixed messages.
+Labour and the Tories campaigned on the now tradition grounds of taxation and health care. Major became known for standing on a soapbox during his public meetings. Labour were approached by the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] under [[Paddy Ashdown]] seeking an alliance, Labour did not clearly commit or refuse but sent out mixed messages.
-The actual result was a shock to many, especially in the media and polling organisations. Turnout at the election, at 77.67 %, was the highest in eighteen years. There was an overall swing of 2.2 % towards Labour, insufficient to gain them victory but something of a boost and also widening the gap between themselves and the LibDems. Nevertheless, despite the reasonable percentage of votes gained, only 0.5 % down on 1987, the actual Conservative majority was quite small and it became progressively smaller across Major's term in office. Nine government ministers had lost their seats as well as the party chairman, Chris Patten.
+The actual result was a surprise to many, especially in the media and polling organisations. Turnout at the election, at 77.67 %, was the highest in eighteen years. There was an overall swing of 2.2 % towards Labour, insufficient to gain them victory but something of a boost and also widening the gap between themselves and the LibDems. Nevertheless, despite the reasonable percentage of votes gained, only 0.5 % down on 1987, the actual Conservative majority was quite small and it became progressively smaller across Major's term in office. Nine government ministers had lost their seats as well as the party chairman, Chris Patten.
-Kinnock, having twice led his party to defeat, resigned soon after the election, he was accompained by the deputy leader, [[Roy Hattersley]]. They were succeeded by [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] and [[Margaret Beckett]].
+Kinnock, having twice led his party to defeat, resigned soon after the election; he was accompained by the deputy leader, [[Roy Hattersley]]. They were succeeded by [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] and [[Margaret Beckett]].
 Margaret Thatcher, [[Denis Healey]], [[Nigel Lawson]], [[Geoffrey Howe]], [[Michael Foot]], [[David Owen]] and [[Merlyn Rees]] were all prominent retirees.