United Kingdom general election, 1979

E89596

The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was a pivotal national vote that brought Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party to power, ending years of Labour government and marking the start of a major shift in British economic and political policy.

All labels observed (4)

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United Kingdom general election
general election
alsoKnownAs 1979 United Kingdom general election
UK general election of 1979
campaignIssue economic management
inflation
trade union power
unemployment
context followed the Winter of Discontent in 1978–79
country United Kingdom
electedBody House of Commons of the United Kingdom
electoralSystem first-past-the-post
endDate 1979-05-03
historicalSignificance ended an unbroken period of Labour government since 1974
marked a major shift toward market-oriented economic policies in the UK
marked the beginning of the Thatcher era
leaderOfSecondParty James Callaghan
leaderOfThirdParty David Steel
leaderOfWinningParty Margaret Thatcher
location United Kingdom
majoritySeats 318
monarchAtTime Elizabeth II
nextElection United Kingdom general election, 1983
numberOfSeatsContested 635
outcome Conservative Party majority government formed
End of Labour Party government led by James Callaghan
parliamentNumber 48th Parliament of the United Kingdom
popularVoteConservative about 13,697,000
popularVoteLabour about 11,532,000
popularVoteLiberal about 4,313,000
previousElection United Kingdom general election, February 1974
primeMinisterAfterElection Margaret Thatcher
primeMinisterAfterParty Conservative Party
primeMinisterBeforeElection James Callaghan
primeMinisterBeforeParty Labour Party
linked to: Labour Party (UK)
seatsWonConservative 339
seatsWonLabour 269
seatsWonLiberal 11
secondParty Labour Party
linked to: Labour Party (UK)
startDate 1979-05-03
thirdParty Liberal Party
linked to: Liberal Party (UK)
triggeredBy 1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan government
loss of confidence vote in the Labour government
voterTurnout 76.0%
approximately 76 percent
voteShareConservative 43.9%
voteShareLabour 36.9%
voteShareLiberal 13.8%
winningParty Conservative Party

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Jeremy Thorpe participantIn United Kingdom general election, 1979
Margaret Thatcher government cameToPowerAfter 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
Margaret Thatcher government electionVictory 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
United Kingdom general election, 1979 alsoKnownAs 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
United Kingdom general election, 1979 alsoKnownAs UK general election of 1979
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
1983 United Kingdom general election previousElection 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
Wycombe (UK Parliament constituency) hasElection 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
Aldershot (UK Parliament constituency) hasElection 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
Wakefield (UK Parliament constituency) hasElectionResult 1979 United Kingdom general election in Wakefield
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
48th Parliament of the United Kingdom formedByElection 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979
UK Parliament 1979–1983 electedBy 1979 United Kingdom general election
linked to: United Kingdom general election, 1979