Abstract
The 1980s were disastrous for the Labour Party. Although the party moved back into an opinion poll lead over the Conservatives soon after its 1979 election defeat, that had only lasted until late in 1981. At the end of 1989 the party was in a commanding lead again (see Figure 1.2, p. 14). But the years in between were a catalogue of defeats, divisions and disappointments. The general elections of 1983 and 1987 marked the worst outcomes since 1931. The split in 1981 and the creation of the Social Democratic Party weakened Labour and created a rival home for non- or anti-Conservative voters.
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Notes
For discussion of the effects of demographic changes on Labour’s support, see A. Heath et al., Understanding Political Change (Oxford: Pergamon, 1991) and
R. Rose and I. McAllister, The Loyalties of Voters (London: Sage, 1990).
On values, see I. Crewe, ‘Values: The Crusade that Failed’ in D. Kavanagh and A. Seldon (eds), The Thatcher Effect (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) and
J. Rentoul and J. Ratford Me and Mine (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989).
See C. Hughes and P. Wintour, Labour Rebuilt (London: Fourth Estate, 1990) and I. Crewe, ‘The Policy Agenda’, Contemporary Record, February 1990.
P. Seyd, The Rise and Fall of the Labour Left (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1987).
See P. Seyd and P. Whiteley, Labour’s Grass-Roots (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992).
See P. Dunleavy and S. Weir, Independent, 25 April 1991 and
P. Kellner, Independent, 24 May 1991.
See also J. Curtice, New Statesman, 9 September 1991 and
V. Bogdanor, New Statesman, 2 November 1991.
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© 1992 David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh
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Butler, D., Kavanagh, D. (1992). Labour: Seeking Electability. In: The British General Election of 1992. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230372092_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230372092_3
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