1983 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held on 9 June 1983 to elect all 650 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party won by the largest majority since Labour in the 1945 general election. It meant that Margaret Thatcher stayed as Prime Minister.^[1]

1983 United Kingdom general election

← 1979 9 June 1983 1987 →
← List of MPs elected in the 1979 United Kingdom general election List of MPs elected in the 1983 United Kingdom general election →
All 650 seats in the House of Commons 326 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	72.7%, 3.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Margaret Thatcher Michael Foot David Steel (Lib) Roy Jenkins (SDP) Party Conservative Labour Alliance Leader's seat Finchley Blaenau Gwent Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale (Steel) Glasgow Hillhead (Jenkins) Last election 339 seats, 43.9% 269 seats, 36.9% 11 seats, 13.8%[lower-alpha 1] Seats before 339 261 11 Seats won 397 209 23 Seat change 58[lower-alpha 2] 60[lower-alpha 2] 12[lower-alpha 2] Popular vote 13,012,316 8,456,934 7,780,949 Percentage 42.4% 27.6% 25.4% Swing 1.5% 9.3% 11.6%
Colours show the winning party—as shown in § Results
Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Margaret Thatcher Conservative Prime Minister after election Margaret Thatcher Conservative

Notes

1. Results for the Liberals only. The SDP did not contest
2. Includes boundary change—so this is a nominal figure.

References

1. 1983: Thatcher triumphs again, BBC News, 5 April 2005, retrieved 22 March 2015