the life cycle of the labour government, 1997 -

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The life cycle of the Labour Government, 1997 - present

New Labour swept into power with a landslide victory at the general election of 1 May 1997. Prime Minister Tony Blair went on to win a further two general elections, before stepping down in 2007. He was replaced by Chancellor Gordon Brown, who remains in office today.

This booklet is a statistical analysis of the three elections that have kept Labour in power. It discusses the exact proportions of the popular vote, and examines trends across the period. It is intended to establish a greater understanding of our current Government life cycle.

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1997

Labour 43.2%Conservative 30.7%Other 26.1%

2001


2005


Percentage of popular votein the UK

This page describes the proportions of the popular vote won by the two main parties at each General Election. Data was collected from the House of Commons Library research papers 03/59, and 05/33.

In 1997, Labour fought a successful campaign to retake power after 18 years of Conservative government. 1997 was a particularly bad year for the Conservatives, winning their lowest vote share in over a century.

Since then, the gap has narrowed between the two parties each year. While the elections of 1997 and 2001 were considered landslide victories, this was not true of 2005.

The 35.3% share of the vote won by Labour in 2005 was the lowest ever recorded by a winning party. It is equivalent to just over 20% of the electorate as a whole.

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1997

Labour 63.4%Conservative 25%Other 11.6%

2001


2005


Percentage of seats in the House of Commons

This page describes the proportions of seats in the House of Commons won by the two main parties at each General Election. Data was collected from the House of Commons Library research papers 03/59, and 05/33.

The 418 seats Labour won in the 1997 General Election were the most the party has ever held. It was also resulted in the fewest seats for the Conservatives since 1906.

There was little change in the composition of the House of Commons in 2001. Over 95% of seats remained unchanged, and the Conservatives gained only one seat.

In 2005, Labour lost a total of 47 seats, while the Conservatives made a net gain of 33 seats.

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Labour performance:England

1997

Labour votes 11.35mPercentage of total 43.5%Swing + 9.6%

2001

Labour votes 9.06mPercentage of total 41.4%Swing - 2.1%

2005

Labour votes 8.05mPercentage of total 35.5%Swing - 5.9%

This page describes the performance of the Labour Government in England at each General Election, recorded in terms of actual ballots, percentage of the popular vote, and swing.

Data was collected from the House of Commons Library research papers 03/59, and 05/33. The diagrams are calculated to represent percentages in terms of area rather than height.

Labour support in England was consistently lower than in Scotland and Wales in each of these elections. This was a trend that continued from the Conservative cycle.

Although Labour won a larger share of the vote than the Conservatives in 1997 and 2001, this reversed in 2005, as the Conservatives polled almost 65, 000 more votes.

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Labour performance:Wales

1997

Labour votes 886.9kPercentage of total 54.7%Swing + 5.2%

2001

Labour votes 667kPercentage of total 48.6%Swing - 6.1%

2005

Labour votes 594.8kPercentage of total 42.7%Swing - 5.9%

This page describes the performance of the Labour Government in Wales at each General Election, recorded in terms of actual ballots, percentage of the popular vote, and swing.


Labour polled higher in Wales than Scotland and England in all three elections. In 1997, the Conservatives failed to win a single Welsh seat.

Labour lost a total of five Welsh seats in 2005, but remain the largest party in Wales, in terms of both seats and votes.

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Labour performance:Scotland

1997

Labour votes 1, 283.4kPercentage of total 45.6%Swing + 6.6%

2001

Labour votes 1, 001.2kPercentage of total 43.3%Swing - 2.3%

2005

Labour votes 907.2kPercentage of total 38.9%Swing - 4.4%

This page describes the performance of the Labour Government in Scotland at each General Election, recorded in terms of actual ballots, percentage of the popular vote, and swing.


In each election, Labour polled consistently higher in Scotland than in England, but lower than in Wales. In 2005, the Liberal Democrats defeated the Conservatives to become the second party in Scotland.

In 2005, Labour saw a reduction in votes across the country, but the decrease was smallest in Scotland. They still hold over two-thirds of Scottish seats.

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Turnout:Percentage of Electorate

1997

Turnout 71.5%Total votes 31, 287, 702Electorate 43, 784, 559

2001


2005


This page measures the turnout at each General Election; the percentage of those legally permitted to vote who cast a legible ballot. Turnout can be seen as a measure of political apathy.

Data was gathered from the Times Guides to the House of Commons for each respective year.

Turnout has been lower in this cycle of Government than in any other in history. Turnout in 2001 was the lowest on record. This increased in 2005 by only 2%.

Outside of this period, the lowest turnout on record occurred in 1974, at 72%. This is 12.6% higher than turnout in 2001, and occurred at the second election of that year after a hung parliament.

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Spoilt Ballots:Fraction of 1% of Electorate

1997

Spoilt ballots 93, 408Percentage of total 0.3%

2001


2005


This page details the percentage of spoilt ballots at each General Election. This is always a small number. As such, the diagram represent fractions of 1% of the overall votes.

Ballots are defined as spoilt for one of the following reasons: want of the official mark, voting for more than one candidate, writing or mark by which the voter could be identified, or submitting an unmarked ballot paper.

In 2005, there were more spoilt ballots than at any other election on record. 2001 and 1997 saw the third and fourth highest number of spoilt ballots respectively, after 1979.

Between 2001 and 2005, the number of spoilt ballots almost doubled.

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Labour Demographics:Percentage of male voters

1997

Lab. male voters 45%Swing + 8%

2001

Lab. male voters 42%Swing - 3%

2005

Lab. male voters 34%Swing - 8%

This page describes the percentage of male voters at each General Election who voted Labour. The data was collected from Ipsos MORI.

Following the trend of the popular vote as a whole, the proportion of males voting Labour decreased over these three elections.

In 1997, men were more likely to vote Labour than women. By 2001, the two sexes offered an equal level of support to the party. In 2005, a 4% larger proportion of women voted for Labour than men.

In 2005, Labour votes from both sexes decreased. However, the decrease amongst males more than double that of females.

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Labour Demographics:Percentage of female voters

1997

Lab. female voters 44%Swing + 10%

2001

Lab. female voters 42%Swing - 2%

2005

Lab. female voters 38%Swing - 4%

This page describes the percentage of female voters at each General Election who voted Conservative. The data was collected from Ipsos MORI.

The share of female votes won by labour decreased at each of these elections. However, it did so at a slightly slower rate than the equivalent decrease among males.

The upswing of female support for Labour in 1997 was slightly larger than that among men., but still resulted in a slightly smaller share of the total votes.

During this period, the Conservatives won a larger proportion of female votes in 1997 and 2001, but a larger share of males votes in 2005.

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Labour Demographics:Voters aged 18 - 24

1997

Lab. voters 18 - 24 49%Swing + 11%

2001

Lab. voters 18 - 24 41%Swing - 8%

2005


This page describes the proportion of voters aged between 18 and 24 who voted Labour at these elections. The data was collected from Ipsos MORI.

Although voters aged 18 - 24 offered the joint highest percentage of Labour votes in 1997, in 2001 and 2005 this had sunk to the second lowest.

In 2001, Labour saw the largest decrease in support amongst young voters, roughly four times the decrease that occurred in other age brackets,

The typical Labour voter in 2001 has grown older each election. In 1997, he or she was aged between 18 and 34. By 2001 it was 25 - 34, and by 2005 he or she was aged between 35 and 54.

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1997


2001


2005



In 1997, Labour support among voters aged 25 - 34 increased by the largest proportion - double the increase among voters aged 55 and over.

This age bracket experienced something of an anomoly in 2001. Where all other age brackets saw a reduction in Labour support, there was an increase of 2% amongst these voters.

This increased the total proportion of Labour voters in the age bracket to over half - the only point at which this happened throughout this period in any age group.

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Despite showing the second lowest level of Labour support in 1997, by 2005 voters aged between 35 - 54 were the party’s strongest support base.

The general downturn of Labour support that occurred in 2005 made the least impact in this age bracket, with a decrease of 1%, compared to 13% among voters aged 25 - 34.

Today, the typical Labour voter is either male or female, aged between 35 and 54, and employed in an unskilled or semi-skilled capacity.

1997


2001


2005


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Labour Demographics:Voters aged 55 +

This page describes the proportion of voters aged 55 and over who voted Labour at these elections. The data was collected from Ipsos MORI.

The 55 + age group is the most consistent throughout this cycle of government, as it was during the previous Conservative cycle.

Voters aged 55 and over were the smallest support base for Labour at all three elections. In 1997, at the height of Labour popularity, the proportion of Labour voters in this age bracket was almost 10% lower than that in the 18 - 34 brackets.

Inversely, this age bracket has remained the most supportive of the Conservative party throughout this period.

1997

Lab. voters 55+ 40%Swing +6%

2001

Lab. voters 55+ 38%Swing - 2%

2005

Lab. voters 55+ 34%Swing - 4%

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Labour Demographics:Middle class and skilled working class

1979

Lab. MC voters 34%Swing + 12%

1979

Lab. SWC voters 50%Swing + 10%

1983

Lab. MC voters 34%Swing 0%

1983

Lab. SWC voters 49%Swing - 1%

1987

Lab. MC voters 30%Swing - 4%

1987

Lab. SWC voters 40%Swing - 9%

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Labour Demographics:Unskilled or semi-skilled working class

1979

Lab. U or S-S voters 59%Swing + 10%

1983

Lab. U or S-S voters 55%Swing - 4%

1987

Lab. U or S-S voters 48%Swing - 7%

These pages detail the proportion of voters of certain classes voting Labour at these elections. Data was gathered from Ipsos MORI.

Classes were determined using the NRS social grade system. Middle class refers to grades A, B, and C1. Skilled working class represents grade C2. Semi-skilled or unskilled working class refers to grades D and E.

Unskilled and semi-skilled working class voters have been the largest support base for Labour in each of these elections. In 1997, Labour support in this bracket was 25% higher than that among the middle classes.

Labour also polled well among skilled working class voters, winning over half of the total share of these votes in 1997.

the life cycle of the labour government, 1997 -

Documents

seats labour

labour government

labour performance

labour support

presentnew labour

conservative cycle

percentage of seats

proportions of seats