United Kingdom General Election of 1997

Tony Blair's New Labour won 418 seats and a 179 seat majority, ending eighteen years of Conservative rule.

Overview

On May 1, 1997, Labour under Tony Blair, rebranded as New Labour and committed to keeping Conservative spending plans, won 418 of 659 seats with about 43 percent of the vote. The Conservatives under John Major fell to 165 seats, their worst result since 1906, and lost every seat in Scotland and Wales, with cabinet ministers such as Michael Portillo defeated. The Liberal Democrats more than doubled their seats to 46. Blair, at 43, became the youngest prime minister since 1812. The landslide led to Bank of England independence, devolution referendums, and the Good Friday Agreement within a year, and Labour went on to win two further elections.