1997 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election

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1997 Conservative Party leadership election
←  1995 10–19 June 1997 (1997-06-10 – 1997-06-19) 2001  →
  William Hague 2010 cropped.jpg Kenneth Clarke (2011).jpg John Redwood.jpg
Candidate William Hague Kenneth Clarke John Redwood
First ballot41 (25.0%)49 (29.9%)27 (16.5%)
Second ballot62 (37.8%)64(39.0%)38 (23.2%)
Third ballot90 (55.2%)72 (44.2%)Eliminated
  Peter Lilley (cropped).jpg Michael Howard (cropped).jpg
Candidate Peter Lilley Michael Howard
First ballot24 (14.6%)23 (14.0%)
Second ballotWithdrewEliminated
Third ballotWithdrewEliminated
Leader before election

John Major

Elected Leader

William Hague

The 1997 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered in the British Conservative Party when John Major resigned on 2 May 1997, following his party's landslide defeat at the 1997 general election, which ended 18 years of Conservative Government of the United Kingdom. [1] Major had been Conservative leader and Prime Minister since November 1990. [1]

Conservative Party (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, sometimes informally called the Tories, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. The governing party since 2010, it is the largest in the House of Commons, with 311 Members of Parliament, and also has 238 members of the House of Lords, 4 members of the European Parliament, 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 11 members of the Welsh Assembly, 8 members of the London Assembly and 7,462 local councillors.

John Major Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Sir John Major is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He served as Foreign Secretary and then Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Thatcher Government from 1989 to 1990, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon from 1979 until his retirement in 2001. Since the death of Margaret Thatcher in 2013, Major has been both the oldest and earliest-serving of all living former Prime Ministers.

1997 United Kingdom general election election for members of the British House of Commons

The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 1 May 1997, five years after the previous general election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. Under the leadership of Tony Blair, the Labour Party ended its eighteen-year spell in opposition and won the general election with a landslide victory, winning 418 seats, the most seats the party has ever held to date, and the highest proportion of seats held by any party in the post-war era. For the first time since 1931, the outgoing government lost more than half its parliamentary seats in an election.

Contents

Candidates

Announced

Kenneth Clarke led the first two rounds of balloting, but lost in the final run-off against William Hague. Ken Clarke 2010.jpg
Kenneth Clarke led the first two rounds of balloting, but lost in the final run-off against William Hague.

The following candidates announced their intention to stand:

Kenneth Clarke British Conservative politician

Kenneth Harry Clarke, often known as Ken Clarke, is a British Conservative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe since 1970. He is currently the Father of the House.

William Hague British politician

William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond, is a British Conservative politician and life peer. He represented Richmond, Yorkshire, as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1989 to 2015 and was the Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001. He was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2010 to 2014 and was the Leader of the House of Commons from 2014 to 2015.

Michael Howard British politician; Former leader of the Conservative Party (UK)

Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne,, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet positions in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including Secretary of State for Employment, Secretary of State for the Environment and Home Secretary.

Announced but withdrew

Stephen Dorrell British politician

Stephen James Dorrell is a former British politician. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015.

Declined candidates

Michael Heseltine British Conservative politician

Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine,, is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001, and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including serving as Deputy Prime Minister under the latter.

Not an MP at the time

In the months before the general election a number of other prominent Conservatives were talked about as potential leaders; however, several failed to hold their seats in the general election including the following:

In addition, many had speculated about Chris Patten returning to Westminster (he had lost his seat in the 1992 election) and becoming leader; however, the contest took place before Patten's term of office as Governor of Hong Kong ended.

Chris Patten British politician and colonial administrator

Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, is a British politician who served as the 28th and final Governor of Hong Kong from 19 July 1992 until the end of British administration over the territory on 30 June 1997. He has been a Conservative member of the House of Lords since 2005 and previously represented Bath in the House of Commons from 1979 to 1992.

1992 United Kingdom general election election for members of the British House of Commons

The 1992 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 April 1992, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The election resulted in the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party since 1979 and the last time that the Conservatives would win a majority at a general election until 2015. This election result took many by surprise, as opinion polling leading up to the election day had shown the Labour Party, under leader Neil Kinnock, consistently, if narrowly, ahead.

Governor of Hong Kong head of the Hong Kong Government during British rule

The Governor of Hong Kong was the representative in Hong Kong of the British Crown from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. The governor's roles were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions. Upon the end of British rule and the transfer of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997, most of the civil functions of this office went to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and military functions went to the Commander of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison.

Results

First ballot: 10 June 1997
CandidateVotes%
Kenneth Clarke 4929.9
William Hague 4125.0
John Redwood 2716.5
Peter Lilley 2414.6
Michael Howard 2314.0
Turnout164100
Second ballot required

Howard was eliminated. He was regarded as a serious contender but had been damaged by the criticisms of Ann Widdecombe (who had served under him at the Home Office) that he had "something of the night about him" [4] and by the decision of William Hague, who had originally agreed to support Howard and become Deputy Leader, to stand in his own right. [1]

Ann Widdecombe British politician

Ann Noreen Widdecombe is a British politician and author serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England for the Brexit Party since 2019. She previously served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone from 1987 to 1997 and for Maidstone and The Weald from 1997 to 2010.

Second round

Peter Lilley withdrew. He and Howard gave their backing to William Hague. [1] [5]

Second ballot: 17 June 1997
CandidateVotes%
Kenneth Clarke 6439.0
William Hague 6237.8
John Redwood 3823.2
Turnout164100
Third ballot required

Redwood was eliminated.

Final round

William Hague won the 1997 Conservative Party leadership election William Hague 2010.jpg
William Hague won the 1997 Conservative Party leadership election

For the final round, Redwood gave his backing to Clarke, an unusual development in that Redwood (eurosceptic) and Clarke (europhile) held opposite views on the main issue of dispute amongst Conservatives. [6] In return for the endorsement, it was generally understood that Clarke would name Redwood Shadow Chancellor. [1]

This pact backfired, however, and the agreement was seen as so cynical that it drew comparison to the Nazi–Soviet Pact of the late 1930s. [6] It prompted former Conservative Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher to publicly endorse Hague. [6] In the event, most of Redwood's supporters switched to Hague rather than to Clarke.

Third ballot: 19 June 1997
CandidateVotes%
William Hague 9055.2
Kenneth Clarke 7244.2
Abstentions10.6
Turnout16399.4
William Hague elected

Julian Lewis announced that he was the only MP who did not vote.[ why? ]

Aftermath

Under William Hague's leadership, the party would fail to make any significant advance at the 2001 general election, and he was succeeded by Iain Duncan Smith.

In 1998, the system of leadership elections was altered to one where MPs vote in rounds to select a shortlist of two candidates, who are then presented to the mass membership to choose. This system was first used in the 2001 leadership election and a modified form of these rules remains in place today.

An incumbent leader can still be ousted by a no confidence vote of Conservative MPs, as was done to Iain Duncan Smith in October 2003. A leader could therefore (in principle) be ousted by MPs despite still enjoying the support of the mass membership.

Related Research Articles

Iain Duncan Smith British politician

George Iain Duncan Smith, often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British Conservative Party politician. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2010 to 2016, he was previously the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was first elected to Parliament at the 1992 general election as the MP for Chingford—which he represented until the constituency's abolition in 1997—and he has since represented its successor constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green.

John Redwood British politician

Sir John Alan Redwood is a British Conservative Party politician, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Wokingham in the county of Berkshire. He was formerly Secretary of State for Wales in Prime Minister John Major's Cabinet, and was twice an unsuccessful challenger for the leadership of the Conservative Party in the 1990s.

Pro-Euro Conservative Party

The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a British political party announced by John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament Elections. The founders were Members of the European Parliament who had resigned from the UK Conservative Party in protest at its anti-euro stance. Their reported aim was to replace Eurosceptic William Hague as Conservative leader with Europhile Kenneth Clarke. Stevens later said that they had intended to push Ken Clarke, Michael Heseltine, Chris Patten and other pro-Europeans in the Conservative Party into "an SDP-style breakaway, in combination with the Liberal Democrats". The Pro-Euro Conservative Party disbanded in 2001.

Peter Lilley British politician

Peter Bruce Lilley, Baron Lilley, PC is a British Conservative politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 2017 representing the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden from 1997 and, prior to boundary changes, St Albans. He was a Cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, serving as Trade and Industry Secretary from July 1990 to April 1992, and as Social Security Secretary from April 1992 to May 1997, when he introduced Incapacity Benefit.

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Eric Forth British politician

Eric Forth was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Birmingham North from 1979 until 1984. He was then the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Worcestershire from 1983 until 1997. Finally, he was the MP for Bromley and Chislehurst from 1997 until his death in 2006. He served as a junior minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1988 and 1997. In his obituaries, he was described as "colourful", "flamboyant", "provocative" and a "right-wing libertarian". He was noted for his colourful ties and waistcoats, sideburns, and jewellery.

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In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives have been accomplished either by a party convention, a vote of members of parliament, or some form of electoral college. OMOV backers claim that OMOV enhances the practice of democracy, because ordinary citizens will be able to participate. Detractors counter that allowing those unversed in the issues to help make decisions makes for bad governance.

2005 Conservative Party leadership election (UK)

The 2005 Conservative Party leadership election was called by party leader Michael Howard on 6 May 2005, when he announced that he would be stepping down as Leader of the Conservative Party in the near future. However, he stated that he would not depart until a review of the rules for the leadership election had been conducted, given the high level of dissatisfaction with the current system. Ultimately, no changes were made and the election proceeded with the existing rules, which were introduced in 1998.

History of the Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party is the oldest political party in the United Kingdom and arguably the world. The current party was first organised in the 1830s and the name "Conservative" was officially adopted, but the party is still often referred to as the Tory party. The Tories had been a coalition that more often than not formed the government from 1760 until the Reform Act 1832. Modernising reformers said the traditionalistic party of "Throne, Altar and Cottage" was obsolete, but in the face of an expanding electorate 1830s–1860s it held its strength among royalists, devout Anglicans and landlords and their tenants.

1990 Conservative Party leadership election (UK)

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1995 Conservative Party leadership election (UK)

The 1995 Conservative Party leadership election was initiated when the incumbent leader and Prime Minister, John Major, resigned as leader on 22 June 1995, in order to face his critics within the party. On 4 July 1995, he was re-elected, beating the only other candidate, the former Secretary of State for Wales, John Redwood.

2003 Conservative Party leadership election (UK)

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Sir George Arthur Gardiner was a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. Two months before the 1997 general election he defected to the Referendum Party, becoming the only MP it ever had. The party dissolved later that year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "The 1997 Conservative Leadership Contest". BBC Politics 97. BBC. 1997. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  2. ↑ "Dorrell Pulls Out of Leadership Race". BBC Politics 97. BBC. 1997. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Kenneth Clarke". BBC Politics 97. BBC. 1997. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Howard Under Attack by Former Minister". BBC Politics 97. BBC. 1997. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Lilley and Howard Quit Leadership Race". BBC Politics 97. BBC. 1997. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "John Redwood". BBC Politics 97. BBC. 1997. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
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