Updated
HISTORIC UK GENERAL ELECTION · 3 MAY 1979
1979 UK general election results
The Thatcher turning point
Largest party339 seats
A Conservative majority ended five years of Labour government and began an 18-year period of Conservative rule.
What happened?
Conservative was the largest grouping with 339 seats, ahead of Labour on 269. 43-seat parliamentary majority.
Who formed the government?
Margaret Thatcher led the conservative majority government after the election.
Was it a shock?
The change of government was widely anticipated; its historical importance came from what followed rather than an unexpected count.
CONTEXT
Britain before the vote
James Callaghan's government had lost a confidence vote by one after the Winter of Discontent. The Conservatives campaigned on inflation, unions, taxation and a promise of political change.
RESULT
What the election changed
The Conservatives won 339 seats. Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister and began a programme that reshaped economic and industrial policy.
SWING
5.3-point swing to Conservative
Two-party swing calculated from October 1974 and 1979 UK vote shares.
BOUNDARIES
How to read the seat total
This was the final election on the 1974 boundary set. The next contest in 1983 expanded the Commons to 650 seats.
SOURCES