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1997 General Election GapFill
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The 1997 general election represented a dramatic shift in the political landscape of the UK. The incumbent Conservative government, led by Prime Minister , had won a surprise victory in 1992, but went into the 1997 election governing as a minority government, having lost its majority in Parliament the previous year. The broader context for the election was a series of corruption scandals involving Conservative MPs - which came to be referred to as - and a ruling party that had become bitterly divided over the issue of European integration. The Labour Party challenger going into the election was , who had led the party since the sudden death of the previous leader, John Smith, in 1994.
The government's reputation had been severely damaged soon after the previous election, when it was forced to devalue the pound on what became known as , undermining its economic credibility on an issue on which it had previously staked a lot of political capital. Narrowly winning a series of votes in Parliament on further European integration, plus constant criticism of the Prime Minister from within its own party, had contributed to a popular view of the government as incompetent, weak and outdated. After of Conservative rule, a sense that the public sought a different type of government was prevalent, and the Conservatives were losing support in the media and performing very poorly in opinion polls, as well as dramatically losing a series of high-profile by-elections.
The Conservative campaign focused on the strength of the economy, and on presenting the Labour Party as sinister and secretly left-wing with the slogan . This was a relatively unsuccessful strategy as Labour had clearly abandoned many of its more left-wing positions, including its traditional support for public ownership. The Labour campaign focused on its leader as being young, relatable and telegenic, as well as on five key pledges to improve public services and employment and maintain low rates of tax. Labour positioned itself as occupying the of British politics, rebranding as 'New Labour' in contrast to an old and out-of-touch Conservative Party. Labour received far more support from the tabloid press in this election, including for the first time from The Sun, which the Labour leader had courted for a number of years.
The result was a landslide Labour victory, forming a of 179 seats. Labour would remain in power until 2010.