Updated
HISTORIC UK GENERAL ELECTION · 1 MAY 1997
1997 UK general election results
New Labour's record return
Largest party418 seats
Tony Blair ended 18 years of Conservative government with the largest single-party seat total on record.
What happened?
Labour was the largest grouping with 418 seats, ahead of Conservative on 165. 179-seat government majority.
Who formed the government?
Tony Blair led the labour majority government after the election.
Was it a shock?
The winner was not a shock; the scale was historic. The result produced a map that looked politically transformed overnight.
CONTEXT
Britain before the vote
The Conservatives entered the campaign divided over Europe and damaged by recession-era memories and sleaze allegations. New Labour had repositioned the party and led opinion polls for years.
RESULT
What the election changed
Labour won 418 seats, the highest total ever achieved by one party. The Conservatives were reduced to 165 and lost every seat in Scotland and Wales.
SWING
10.0-point swing to Labour
Two-party swing calculated from the 1992 and 1997 UK vote shares.
BOUNDARIES
How to read the seat total
New boundaries expanded the Commons to 659 seats in 1997. They remained in place in England and Wales through 2005, while later reviews changed the national map again.
SOURCES