Revival under Kinnock, Smith and Blair (1985–95)

Abstract

The late 1980s saw a marked recovery of the party’s standing in the country, giving it in late 1989 a lead of 10 per cent in the opinion polls. This was due to four interlocking factors, and it is difficult to distinguish which was most important. There was, first of all, a determination on the part of the new leadership of the party to secure unity of purpose. Secondly, the Liberal-Social Democrat Alliance disintegrated after the 1987 general election, in which it had lost some ground. Thirdly, the government’s economic policy led at the end of the decade to a return of inflation, high mortgage rates and the prospect of renewed recession. And fourthly, the government introduced a highly unpopular uniform ‘poll tax’ in place of rates. But when the new general election took place in April 1992, Thatcher had gone, there was a new Conservative leader, and a fourth consecutive Conservative victory.