1987 United Kingdom general election

Abstract is: The 1987 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party, and second landslide under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool in 1820 to lead a party into three successive electoral victories. The Conservatives ran a campaign focusing on lower taxes, a strong economy and strong defence. They also emphasised that unemployment had just fallen below the 3 million mark for the first time since 1981, and inflation was standing at 4%, its lowest level since the 1960s. National newspapers also continued to largely back the Conservative Government, particularly The Sun, which ran anti-Labour articles with headlines such as "Why I'm backing Kinnock, by Stalin". The Labour Party, led by Neil Kinnock following Michael Foot's resignation in the aftermath of their landslide defeat at the 1983 general election, was slowly moving towards a more centrist policy platform following the promulgation of a left-wing one under its previous leader Michael Foot. The main aim of the Labour Party was simply to re-establish itself as the main progressive centre-left alternative to the Conservatives, after the rise of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) forced Labour onto the defensive. Indeed, the Labour Party succeeded in doing so at this general election. The Alliance between the SDP and the Liberal Party was renewed but co-leaders David Owen and David Steel could not agree whether to support either major party in the event of a hung parliament. The Conservatives were returned to government, having suffered a net loss of only 21 seats, leaving them with 376 MPs and a reduced but still strong majority of 102 seats. Labour succeeded in resisting the challenge by the SDP–Liberal Alliance to maintain its position as HM Official Opposition. Moreover, Labour managed to increase its vote share in Scotland, Wales and the North of England. Yet Labour still returned only 229 MPs to Westminster, and in certain London constituencies which Labour had held before the election; the Conservatives actually made gains. The election was a disappointment for the Alliance, which saw its vote share fall and suffered a net loss of one seat as well as former SDP leader Roy Jenkins losing his seat to Labour. This led to the two parties merging completely soon afterwards to become the Liberal Democrats. In Northern Ireland, the main unionist parties maintained their alliance in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, however the Ulster Unionists lost two seats to the Social Democratic and Labour Party. One of the UUP losses was former Cabinet Minister, Enoch Powell; famous for his stance against immigration and formerly a Conservative. To date, the Conservatives have not matched or surpassed their 1987 seat total in any general election held since, although they would record a greater share of the popular vote in the 2019 general election. The 50th Parliament is the last time to date that a Conservative government has lasted a full term with an overall majority of seats in Parliament, as the small 1992 election majority had dwindled to nil by the 1997 dissolution, it had to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats to form a government in 2010, and the narrow majority gained at the 2015 general election was lost when a snap election was called two years later and resulted in a hung parliament; with Labour making their first net gains in twenty years. The election night was covered live on the BBC and presented by David Dimbleby, Peter Snow and Sir Robin Day. It was also broadcast on ITV and presented by Sir Alastair Burnet, Peter Sissons and Alastair Stewart. The 1987 general election saw the election of the first Black Members of Parliament: Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant, all as representatives for the Labour Party. Other newcomers included future Cabinet member David Blunkett and future SNP Leader Alex Salmond. MPs leaving the House of Commons as a result of this election included former Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, Keith Joseph, Jim Prior, Ian Mikardo, former SDP leader and Labour Cabinet Minister Roy Jenkins, former Health Minister Enoch Powell (who had defected to the UUP in Northern Ireland in 1974 after from the Conservatives) and Clement Freud.