Study the 1983 general election

Result of the Election

Turnout: 72.7%

Conservatives: the most decisive election victory since that of the Labour Party in 1945.

Labour: had its worst electoral performance since 1931, fell by over 3,000,000 votes from 1979.

Things to Note: Last general election until 2019 in which a governing party increased its number of seats.

Result of the 1983 General Election
Party	Votes	Percentage of Votes	Candidates	Seats won
Con	13,012,316	42.4%	633	397
Lab	8,456,934	27.6%	633	209
Lib+SDP Alliance	7,780,949	25.4%	633	23
Plaid Cymru and SNP	457,284	1.5%	110	4
Other^[1]	963,654	3.1%	569	17^[2]
Total	30,671,137	100	2578	650

Thatcher
- Falklands War led to a recovery of her popularity.
- Economic growth had begun to resume.
Labour
- Had been led by Michael Foot since the resignation of James Callaghan
- New policies were considered more left-wing than before
  - Several moderate Labour MPs had defected from the party to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP)
    - Which then formed the SDP–Liberal Alliance with the existing Liberal Party
- Further harmed by its promise to withdraw from the European Economic Community
  - Alienated Pro-European groups.

Opinion polls pointed to a Conservative victory

Most national newspapers backed the re-election of the Conservative government.

↑ Northern Ireland parties Ecology National Front British National Communist Workers' Revolutionary Others
↑ All won by Northern Ireland parties. Ecology, National Front, British National, Communist, Workers' Revolutionary, and others all won 0 seats