The Iron Lady - 1986 General Election
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  The Iron Lady - 1986 General Election
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Poll
Question: Which party will you vote for?
#1
Labour (Michael Foot)
#2
Conservative (Michael Heseltine)
#3
Democrats (Shirley Williams)
Show Pie Chart
Partisan results


Author Topic: The Iron Lady - 1986 General Election  (Read 919 times)
Lumine
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« Reply #25 on: October 19, 2017, 08:37:13 PM »

1986 General Election:


October 1986 - Foot survives... barely

Labour Party: 39.3% (334 MP's)
Conservative Party: 34.0% (262 MP's)
Democrats: 22.1% (30 MP's)
Others: 4.6% (24 MP's)

Time had run out for Labour, and it was time to face the electorate to defend their landslide majority from 1981. With Labour holding a safe advantage in the polls at the start of the campaign their campaign efforts (led by Neil Kinnock) chose to lead a defensive campaign to prevent losing too many of the seats they had won from the Conservatives at the past election, seeking to demonize Heseltine as an extension of Thatcher and portray Labour as the new party of government. On the opposing side and with little to lose, Shirley Williams and Michael Heseltine launched their own efforts with a fiery disposition, determined to bring down the Labour juggernaut despite the odds.

To say that the opening of the Labour campaign was close to a disaster would be kind. Prime Minister Foot broke a few ribs in fall after one of his first campaign appearances, leaving him in hospital for several days while giving an impression of frailty. The Labour manifesto turned out to be received in a negative way by the electorate, as the manifesto (which Kinnock could not stop from being hugely influenced by the Bennites) promised significant tax increases and economic control measures which the public clearly didn't like. Further rearmament promises also led to easy accusations that Labour would be leaving the United Kingdom too undefended, and that's where Heseltine went for the kill.

The chance was provided by the aggressive posturing of the recently enshrined Soviet General Secretary Yegor Ligachev (having taken office after the death of Mikhail Gorbachev in a plane crash), who to cement his rule had engaged in an aggressive standoff with President Reagan over Berlin which came close (but not as close as the Cuban Missile Crisis) from turning into a full-blown crisis. Persuading his own MP's that there was little alternative but to fight an all out effort, Heseltine took to the streets on a strident message of security and defence, denouncing the Prime Minister for "leaving Britain open to danger". Shirley Williams, on the other hand, was hurt by the extreme views of defence for several former Liberals inside the Democrats, who continued to push for disarmament and continuously undercut Williams's arguments in a way which left the divisions inside the third party all too clear.

By the closing of the campaign Heseltine and the Conservatives were gaining strongly in the polls against a divided Labour in free fall (the Democrats having stagnated), leading to an internal coup inside the Labour campaign. Anthony Blair, Foot's youngest protege, convinced the Prime Minister to wrestle the campaign away from Kinnock (whose reputation had collapsed) and into the hands of a centralized team of young operators led by Blair himself, his wife Cherie (MP for Thanet North), Bryan Gould, Peter Mandelson and others. Despite the limited time, a series of stinging ads against Heseltine and particularly against Shirley Williams worked their magic as the Labour drop stabilized. By election night Labour was still several points ahead of the Conservatives, but it was no longer a 1981-style landslide.

The results were far more painful for the government. With Williams having achieved limited gains and 8 new MP's (including the return to Parliament of David Owen and Bill Rodgers), Heseltine took the Conservatives all the way from 22% to 34%, making over 200 gains in the course of the night which overcame even the more optimistic Tory forecasts. A stunned Foot watched in silence as over 200 Labour MP's elected in the 81' landslide went down in flames, including an angry Cherie Blair (who vowed to return) and several members of the Labour right. The next day Michael Foot returned to Downing Street Ten with what many described as a hollow victory, his unassailable majority reduced to 18 seats and his ambitious colleagues beginning to sharpen the knives for the weakened Prime Minister.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #26 on: October 19, 2017, 08:46:41 PM »

Ouch.
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America Needs R'hllor
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« Reply #27 on: October 20, 2017, 04:56:48 AM »

Very good result, though I'd prefer a stronger showings for the Democrats. Still glad the Labour majority got cut so much.
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