The 1983 General Election had profound ramifications on British politics. Resulting in a Margaret Thatcher Conservative majority of 144 seats in the House of Commons, the ‘83 election provided her the political strength to enact swathes of neoliberal economic and neoconservative social reforms, changes that greatly influence the socio-economic standing of Britain today.  

The Great Liberal Alliance

In 1981, four Labour MPs abandoned the party to create the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The ‘gang of four’, Roy Jenkins, David Owens, Bill Rodgers, and Shirley Williams, announced their plans to “break the mould of British politics”, forming their own breakaway party from the Labour Party (which they considered calling the ‘New Labour party’) after growing frustrated at the far-left direction the Labour Party was taking leader Michael Foot.

The party joined forces with the Liberal Party in 1981, forming the Liberal-SDP alliance (known as the Alliance), which initially polled well. Amid widespread unpopularity for the Conservative Party - marked by growing rates of unemployment, high inflation, and negative GDP growth - the Alliance held a peak of almost 50% support. In the autumn of 1981, the Thatcher administration, which had won 339 seats in the last General Election (1979), had a support level of only 27%. 

Voting

Result

The Conservative Party was re-elected, with Thatcher winning her second term as Prime Minister with 397 seats in Parliament, a 144-seat majority, achieving over 42% of the vote. The Labour Party's vote count dropped by 3,000,000 votes, finishing only slightly ahead of the Alliance (in outright votes), which won 23 seats. It marked Labour’s worst election since 1931. The full results are available here.

Class

The working classes drifted away from their traditional vote of the Labour Party in droves during the 83’ Election, continuing a trend that started in the previous election (‘79). This was largely votes lost to the Alliance.

The process of embourgeoisment (the lower classes becoming more middle class in their values) led to rising levels of partisan dealignment. This refers to voters who not sticking to their class allegiances (typically, working class votes Labour, upper/middle classes vote Conservative), and thus boosting Conservative support amongst the working classes.

Gender

More women voted Conservative in the 1983 General Election than men: 46% of women compared to 42% of men. Men were more likely to vote Labour by 2%, with 28% of men voting Labour compared to 26% of women. Thatcher’s 'Iron Lady' status may have appealed to women voters. 

Age

“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain”, reads the quote falsely attributed to Winston Churchill. The quote does, however, reflect the long-standing adage that older people are more likely to vote Conservative - a suggestion evidenced by the ‘83 election.

According to Robert Worcester’s Britain at the Polls 1945-83, 42% of 18-24-year-olds voted Conservative, rising to 47% for 55+ year-olds. Labour performed better with young voters, peaking amongst 18-24 year olds of whom 33% voted for them. Only 27% of 35-54 and 55+ year-olds voted Labour in ‘83.

Ethnicity

57% of ethnic minorities voted for the Labour Party, with 24% and 16% voting Conservative and for the Alliance, respectively. 

However, with just over 2.1 million ethic minorities in the UK in 1981 (closest data to the 83’ election we have), with 22% not registered to vote, their electoral impact was minimal.