User:GrogmarkMan/sandbox

1991 United Kingdom general election

31 January 1991
All 651 seats to the House of Commons 326 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	79.4% ( 4.1 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Neil Kinnock Michael Heseltine Paddy Ashdown Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader since 2 October 1983 28 November 1990 16 July 1988 Leader's seat Islwyn Henley Yeovil Last election 229 seats, 30.8% 376 seats, 42.2% 22 seats, 22.6% Seats won 366 232 27 Seat change 137 144 5 Popular vote 14,116,352 11,299,017 6,077,143 Percentage 41.3%, 32.9% 25.2% Swing 10.5% 9.3% 2.6%
Map of United Kingdom showing constituencies won
Prime Minister before election Michael Heseltine Conservative Elected Prime Minister Neil Kinnock Labour

The 1991 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 31 January 1991, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The election resulted in the first victory for the Labour Party since 1974, 17 years before.

The election had not been due for another 15 months, however Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's unexpected weak results in the Conservative leadership election and subsequent resignation resulted in the surprise victory and appointment of Michael Heseltine, a controversial outsider, to the position of party leader. Following this, a motion of no-confidence narrowly passed the House of Commons due to splintering within the Conservatives, triggering election, to be held in early 1991. Labour won its largest victory in terms of seats since 1945. Following the election, Michael Heseltine immediately resigned as Prime Minister and party leader.

The political backdrop of campaigning focused on public opinion towards a change in government, a desired relaxation period in national politics following the instability of the Conservative leadership election and the legacy of Thatcher's premiership. Labour Leader, Neil Kinnock, focused on capitalizing on Labour's overall strength and recent spike in the polls to stabilize his party, which was slowly undergoing a transformation towards a more centrist policy platform. Kinnock sought to strike a balance between the two wings of his party, making promises towards devolution referendums for Scotland and Wales as well as fiscal responsibility, but also cautiously speaking out in favor of trade unions, government programs and reinvigorating English industry and state companies. Additionally, the denounced the Conservatives as being outdated and unstable, pointing to the crisis taking place.

Michael Heseltine had won the Conservative Party leadership election in November 1990 following the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. During his short term leading up to the 1991 election he had to chaotically oversee the British involvement in the Gulf War and was unable to replace the unpopular Community Charge, introduced in 1989. The economy was entering a recession around the time of Heseltine's appointment, along with most of the other industrialised nations. Heseltine was perceived as unfit and uncontrollable by his enemies, however he tried to build an image of himself as an outsider in order to appeal to the general public, however he found himself struggling within his own party, which was unable to separate itself from the image of Thatcher, which had defined the Conservatives and the broader political environment throughout the 1980s.

Labour received what remains the largest number of votes in a general election in British history, breaking the previous record it had set in 1951. Former Conservative Leader and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, her successor and Prime Minister Michael Heseltine, Former Labour Party Leader Michael Foot, former SDP Leader David Owen, two former Chancellors of the Exchequer Geoffrey Howe and Denis Healey, former Home Secretary Merlyn Rees, Francis Maude, Norman Tebbit, Rosie Barnes, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Speaker of the House of Commons Bernard Weatherill left the House of Commons as a result of this election, though Maude and Adams returned at the next election.