- CAMPAIGN
- Conservatives:
- 3 main manifesto points were defence, employment and economic prosperity – remained committed to membership of the European Community, a nuclear deterrent, trade union reform, more privatisation, long-term tax reduction and lower inflation.
- The Conservatives remained on top throughout the campaign, despite Labour trying to affect this by releasing private documents that they believed highlighted their ‘real’ plans and the fact that they had a ‘secret manifesto’.
- Labour:
- ‘New Hope for Britain’ – a 12-point plan that pledged to withdraw from the Common Market (EEC), remove the House of Lords, cancel the Trident nuclear programme and remove Cruise missiles from Britain.
- Foot’s manifesto received A LOT of criticism – referred to by a shadow cabinet member as “the longest suicide note in history”. The Guardian also said, “there was something magnificently brave about Michael Foot’s campaign, but it was like the Battle of the Somme.”
- Foot was forced to modify their defence commitments, saying they would move towards a non-nuclear defence policy and was consequently criticised by former Labour PM Jim Callaghan, who said that nuclear defence should not be given up.
- The Alliance:
- The Alliance exploited the nation’s mass unemployment with their “Working Together for Britain” campaign which promised to see unemployment reduced by up to 1 million.
- They received lots of television coverage during the campaign, however, most voters remained disinterested.
- MEDIA
- Conservatives: They had the support of around 70% of newspapers.
- Thatcher opened the doors of Downing Street to allow ITV to film the documentary “The Women at Number Ten” – advertised her leadership and patriotism.
- Thatcher was photographed on the last day of campaigning with arms outstretched in front of the flag, before inspecting a military hovercraft – evoking memories of Falklands victory.
- Labour: Labour support was restricted to the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror.
- Foot ridiculed by the Sun – “Do You Seriously Want this Old Man to Run Britain?
- Labour ran a more old-fashioned campaign – Foot was unsuited for modern political communication and was said to be a weak performer on TV – Austin Mitchell, a former TV presenter, said “He was hopeless in the personal interview style of the 1980s”.
- RESULTS
- The Conservatives won 397 seats, leaving Labour with 209 and the Alliance with 23.
- The Conservative share of the vote decreased to 42.4% (from 43.9%) but they were able to get a landslide majority of 144.
- Labour’s share of the vote fell to 27.6%, only 2 points above the Alliance with 25.4%.
- Nationally, there was a swing of 3.8% from Labour to Conservatives, most prominently in the South, where Labour won 2/110 seats.
- Labour won nearly 200 more seats than the Alliance with only 2% more of the vote – flawed electoral system.
- Turnout was at 72.7%, 3.3% lower than in 1979.