1983 United Kingdom general election in England

The 1983 United Kingdom general election in England was held on 9 June 1983 for 523 English seats to the House of Commons. The Conservative Party won a landslide majority of English seats, gaining 37 seats for a total of 362. The Labour Party came second, winning 148 MPs, a decline of 45. Labour's share of the vote in England was its lowest since 1918, and its number of English MPs was its smallest since 1931.[1] The SDP–Liberal Alliance won 26.4% of the popular vote, just 0.4% behind Labour, but won only 13 seats compared to 148 for Labour, due to the first-past-the-post electoral system.[2][3]

1983 United Kingdom general election in England
9 June 1983
All 523 English seats in the House of Commons
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Margaret Thatcher Michael Foot
Party Conservative Labour Alliance
Leader since 11 February 1975 10 November 1980
Leader's seat Finchley Blaenau Gwent
Last election 306 seats, 47.2% 203 seats, 36.7% 7 seats, 14.9%
Seats before 325[lower-alpha 1] 193[lower-alpha 1] 5[lower-alpha 1]
Seats won 362 148 13
Seat change 37[lower-alpha 2] 45[lower-alpha 2] 8[lower-alpha 2]
Popular vote 11,711,519 6,862,422 6,714,957
Percentage 46.0% 26.8% 26.4%
Swing 1.2% 9.8% 11.5%
Main article: 1983 United Kingdom general election

Results table
Party[1] Seats Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net +/- % seats Total votes % votes Change
Conservative 362 N/A N/A 37 69.2 11,711,519 46.0 1.2
Labour 148 N/A N/A 45 28.3 6,862,422 26.8 9.8
Alliance 13 N/A N/A 8 2.5 6,714,957 26.4 11.5
Other parties 0 N/A N/A — 183,748 0.7 0.5
25,472,646 72.5
Popular vote
Conservative
 
 46.0%
Labour
 
 26.8%
SDP–Liberal Alliance
 
 26.4%
Other
 
 0.7%
Parliament seats
Conservative
 
 69.2%
Labour
 
 28.3%
SDP–Liberal Alliance
 
 2.5%

See also

References
  1. "GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS, 9 JUNE 1983" (PDF). 1984. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  2. Lindsay, Caron (2 April 2013). "The 1983 election: highlights and hindsight". Lib Dem Voice. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  3. Stats for Lefties [@LeftieStats] (25 September 2019). "It may seem unbelievable that Labour could outpoll the Lib Dems by just 2pts and win 198 more seats. But bear in mind that, in 1983, Labour won 26.8% in England. The SDP-Liberal Alliance won 26.4%. Labour won 148 seats. The Alliance won 13" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 May 2020 – via Twitter.

Notes
  1. Notional 1979 results.
  2. Indicates boundary change—so this is a nominal figure.


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