1979 United Kingdom general election in England

1979 United Kingdom general election in England

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All 516 English seats in the House of Commons 259 seats needed for English majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Margaret Thatcher James Callaghan David Steel Party Conservative Labour Liberal Leader since 11 February 1975 5 April 1976 July 1976 Leader's seat Finchley Cardiff South East Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale Last election 253 seats, 38.9% 255 seats, 40.1% 8 seats, 20.2% Seats won 306 203 7 Seat change 53 52 1 Popular vote 12,256,134 9,524,960 3,877,089 Percentage 47.2% 36.7% 14.9% Swing 8.3 pp 3.4 pp 5.3 pp

The 1979 United Kingdom general election saw the Conservative Party win the most votes and seats in England. ^[1] They received 12.26 million English votes, a record at the time. ^[2]

Main article: 1979 United Kingdom general election

Results table

Party		Leader	Seats won	Aggregate votes
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	306	12,256,134 [3] [4]	47.18%
	Labour	James Callaghan	203	9,524,960	36.66%
	Liberal	David Steel	7	3,877,089	14.92%
	Others and independents		0	321,768	1.24%
Total			516	25,979,951	100%

Popular vote Conservative   47.18% Labour   36.66% Liberal   14.92% Other   1.24%

Parliament seats Conservative   59.3% Labour   39.3% Liberal   1.4%

References

1. "1979: Thatcher wins Tory landslide". 5 April 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
2. Pilling, Sam; Cracknell, Richard (18 August 2021). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2021: A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
3. Kimber, Richard (20 April 2011). "Political Science Resources" . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
4. "Election Data 1979" . Retrieved 14 April 2025.