1983 General Election

The 1983 General Election was a big moment in British history and memorable as a low point for the Labour Party.

1983 General Election Summary

On June 9th, 1983 the Conservative Party, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, won the General Election with a majority of 144 seats. This marked the most decisive election victory since Labour's win in 1945.

Why was a general election held on this date?

It was at the request of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Although the start of Thatcher's premiership had been rocky, Britain's success in the Falklands War and economic improvements throughout the country had improved Margaret Thatcher's popularity amongst the people. This, alongside favourable opinion polls in May 1983, prompted her to call for a general election.

Labour’s flaws during the election

One of the main reasons this general election is memorable is that it was an electoral low point for Michael Foot and the Labour Party.

Labour leader Michael Foot led his party through what was said to be Labour's worst election performance since 1918. Foot’s campaign was described as uninspiring, with the party’s manifesto being dubbed as the "longest suicide note in history".

They made unrealistic and over-the-top pledges such as leaving the common market and destroying the House of Lords. This was far less popular than the Conservative manifesto, which discussed employment for the people, economic prosperity, and defence tactics for the country. The Labour Party also suffered from internal divisions and a bad public image after the Falklands War, in which they were seen as unpatriotic.

Conservative advantages

Margaret Thatcher was not popular during her first term as Prime Minister.

• Since Thatcher came to power in 1979, unemployment rates had doubled to around 3 million UK citizens by 1983.
• In 1981, Thatcher's government attempted to close many coal mines in Britain. The 1980 Coal Industry Act had withdrawn coal subsidies to British mines and imports were suppressing the industry in the UK. However, Thatcher negotiated with the disgruntled miners to keep the mines open.
• Inflation had risen sharply in the 1970s to nearly 25%. To bring this down, Thatcher raised interest rates and cut public spending, resulting in her unpopularity.

So how did the Conservatives win so convincingly in 1983? Despite the new era of Thatcherism since 1979 creating discontent in Britain, the Conservative handling of the Falklands War in 1982 saw a significant rise in Thatcher's popularity.

Although there were nearly 1000 deaths during the Falklands War, Britain's victory was a great success for the Conservative party. (Source: Wikicommons)

• From 1976, Argentina was led by a brutal military dictatorship known as a junta.
• Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2^nd April 1982 whilst many British citizens lived there. The Britons did not want to be under Argentina's control and pleaded that the British government protect them.
• Thatcher sent a task force of over 100 ships from Britain to the Falklands on 4^th April 1982 to defend the Islands.
• Her quick and decisive response led to a surge in popularity for prioritising British citizens.
• In 1976, Thatcher gained the nickname "The Iron Lady" after Russian propaganda published a piece criticising her, and since then the name has stuck with the British press. Following the events in the Falklands, the nickname began to be used to refer to Thatcher's resourceful and tough personality.

Although Thatcher's domestic policies had made her very unpopular, her handling of the Falklands War saw her popularity increase dramatically. She said in a 1982 interview:

Following this victory, Thatcher called the snap election in 1983 and rode the wave to win by a landslide victory.

1983 General Election Results

The Conservative Party's landslide victory at the 1983 general election firmly cemented Margaret Thatcher's place as Prime Minister and hailed in the period of Thatcherism. (Source: wikicommons.org)

The 1983 General Election was a proud day for the Conservative Party. Margaret Thatcher and her party benefitted from a 'three-horse race'. The opposition to the Conservative Party was split between Labour and the Liberal/Social Democratic (SDP) alliance meaning neither could secure a majority.

As a result, the Conservative Party left the election with a 144-seat majority, having received 397 seats out of the available 650. All other parties received a combined total of 253 seats. The overall voter turnout was 72.7%.

1983 General Election Results by Constituency

During this general election, there was quite a variation in turnout and votes across constituencies, but it was clear that in most constituencies the Conservative Party was favoured. Out of the ten regions that voted during the 1983 general election, only four of them favoured a party other than Conservative. The North of England, Wales and Scotland had a majority vote for the Labour Party, whilst Northern Ireland only voted for parties that were neither Conservative nor Labour.

The distribution of Conservative and Labour seats in England, Wales and Scotland - House of Commons, Public Information Office Factsheet 22: General Election Results, 9 June 1983 (1984) <https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-information-office/m09.pdf>

1983 General Election Demographics

Lots of the things that affect voting behaviour are demographics.

During elections, three factors are said to affect one’s voting decision:

• Religion
• Gender
• Class

Although these are said to be the main three, many other things can affect someone’s voting choices:

• Voter loyalty
• Each party's achievements
• The candidate for Prime Minister

Tables on voting behaviour

The below tables allow us to draw some conclusions about the changing voting behaviours of five demographics in Britain: men, women, middle class, skilled working class, and semi/unskilled working class.

How different demographics voted in the 1974, 1979 and 1983 elections - IPSOS, How Britain Voted since October 1974, <https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/how-britain-voted-october-1974>

The working class

Harold Wilson's Labour Government won the election in 1974, but over the course of his leadership, he began to lose support from the working class. In the 1974 election, on average over half of the working class voted Labour, with roughly a quarter each voting Conservative and SDP. In 1983, however, the Conservatives saw a historic increase of over 10% of the working class now voting for them.

Women

The voting behaviour of women also underwent significant changes between 1974 and 1983. In 1974, the proportion of women that voted Labour and Conservative was fairly evenly split (38% and 39% respectively), but during Labour's term in government, the Conservatives managed to snatch some of these votes, winning an extra 7% of female voters whilst Labour lost a damning 12%.

1983 General Election Case Study: How Did the Election Impact Britain?

Coal miners went on strike across the country to protest Thatcher's changes to the industry after her landslide success in 1983. (Source: wikicommons.org)

One of Thatcher's legacies as Prime Minister after her second successful election in 1983 was the privatisation of many of Britain's industries - moving them from public to private ownership. Let's look at the impact of the 1983 election on Britain's coal mining industry.

• Trade Unions demonstrated their power against the government during the 1970s. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) were joined by other unions and led two successful strikes against Edward Heath's Conservative government in 1972 and 1974 resulting in wage increases for miners.

• The "Winter of Discontent" ended the 1970s with over 2000 strikes causing James Callaghan's Labour government to call a general election.

• Upon the 1983 general election victory, Thatcher appointed ruthless economist Ian MacGregor as the head of the National Coal Board (NCB), who released a plan to close "unprofitable mines" in Britain and eventually privatise the industry.

• The NUM went on strike against mine closures on 6th March 1984, but Thatcher introduced revisions to the Trade Union Act in July 1984, enforcing the use of a secret ballot to be held before strike action is called. Arthur Scargill, leader of the NUM, had not called a secret ballot and so not every Union was on board - only half of British miners went on strike.

• Thatcher had stockpiled coal in preparation for strikes, which allowed the country to keep running. The police were also better organised and used more force to prevent strikers from disrupting supply lines.

• The strike was called off on 5^th March 1984. Thatcher had diminished the power of trade unions and managed to continue shutting down the mines. In 1984, Britain had 174 mines, which had decreased to just 15 by 1994.

Thatcher's policy of privatisation did help to recover Britain's economy but resulted in civil unrest and mass unemployment. For many communities, the mining industry had been the primary or only source of employment, especially in rural areas in Wales and North England. By closing the mines, Thatcher destroyed these communities.