General Election 1992 (UK)

The UK General Election 1992 (April), was a fierce battle between a resurgent Labour party, under Neil Kinnock, the shiny and new Tories, under John Major and the Liberal Democrats, under Paddy Ashdown.

Debates
Only one debate was broadcast for the 1992 election. It was held in Hornsey and Wood Green, in London, a Liberal Democrat seat. Instant polling suggested that Neil Kinnock won the debate, with Ashdown and Major fighting it out for last place.

Polling
National polling for the election showed Labour and the Tories near neck and neck, although it was widely anticipated that the Tories would do better than the polls were suggesting, through a mix of incumbency bonus and swing voters. The beginning of the campaign saw polling at 38% (Labour), 39% (Conservatives) and 18% (Liberal Democrats). This would give the Liberal Democrats their best result since the first world war and in the likely position that they would be kingmakers in the parliament.

Final polling
Final polling of the campaign saw the Labour party at around 37%, the Tories at 40% and the Liberal Democrats at 19%.

Campaign stops
John Major spent his last week visiting the highly marginal, Warwickshire North, Thurrock, Redcar and Waveney. He also ventured into Liberal Democrat territory, visiting St Ives and Solihull. Neil Kinnock spent his final week in Norwich South, Bradford East, Hastings and Rye, Hove, Enfield North and Bedford. Paddy Ashdown visited St Ives, Somerton and Frome, Wells, Austel and Newqay and Solihull.

Exit Poll
The BBC released this exit poll. It suggested that the night would be incredibly close, with the Tories edging out Labour by five seats. The result would not give the Liberal Democrats kingmaker position, falling just one short of an absolute majority if they wanted to go with the Conservatives and six short with Labour. Paddy Ashdown said he would 'wait for the final results', but did not repeat his anti-tory rhetoric, as preformed during the campaign, when asked by a journalist. Labour said they had successfully knocked the Tories out of power and said that this was a worse result for them than their polling suggested. The Conservatives would not comment on the exit poll.

Final results
Final results showed that polling had been near accurate, with Labour and the Tories within eight seats of each other, although the Tories leading by 4 percentage points. The Liberal Democrats were put in a difficult position, unable to form government with Labour and unwilling to go in with the Tories.The SNP preformed worse than the exit poll, loosing one seat to the Tories. The Conservatives edged the night, with 312 to Labour's 296.