General Election 1997

The UK General Election 1997, was the first national election since the General Election of 1992 (July). The 1992 Parliament had been a coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, under Neil Kinnock and Paddy Ashdown. At the 1997 Election, the leaders of the main parties were Neil Kinnock (Labour), the outgoing Prime Minister, Michael Forsyth (Conservatives) and Malcom Bruce (Liberal Democrats).

Debates
Three debates were broadcast for the 1997 election, one more than the 1992 (July) election. The first debate was held in Truro, Cornwall, and the second in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Instant polling suggested that Malcom Bruce won both debates and that Forsyth and Kinnock preformed equally.

Polling
National polling would make show little of what was happening, because of the expected shifts thanks to changes in the election system and boundaries. It was widely expected that Labour would remain the largest party and, perhaps, take some Liberal Democrats and Tory seats.

Final polling
Final polling of the campaign saw the Labour party at around 42%, the Tories at 42% and the Liberal Democrats at 11%. This was a a net gain for both Labour (+1%) and the Tories (+2%), with the Lib Dems down 3%. This saw the Liberal Democrats unveil a more right wing manifesto than they had released at the 1992 election.

Exit Poll
The BBC released this exit poll. It suggested that the night would be fairly close in seats, but with the Tories nationally ahead of Labour by over 5.5%. If accurate, Labour would loose 14, the Tories would gain 19, the Lib Dems would loose 7 and the SNP would gain 3.

Final Results
Over the course of the night, it became clear that the exit poll had overestimated Labour turnout and underestimated Conservative voters. The final result put the Conservatives just under 9% ahead of the Labour party nationally, just winning an overall majority of 12. The Lib Dems lost 6 seats, the Labour party lost 34 seats, the SNP gained 3 and the Conservatives gained 38. Michael Forsyth became Prime Minister and successfully passed his Queen's Speech.