1997 United Kingdom General Election

England

May 1, 1997

The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair. This was the first time that the Labour Party had won a general election since 1979.

529 English Seats

The election was held for 529 English seats to the House of Commons. The Labour Party won 419 seats, the Conservative Party won 165 seats, the Liberal Democrats won 46 seats, the Scottish National Party won 6 seats, and the Plaid Cymru won 4 seats.

The results of the 1997 United Kingdom general election by parliamentary constituency were as follows.

BBC Coverage

The BBC covered the 1997 general election night results on BBC Parliament. The coverage was presented by David Dimbleby and included commentary from a panel of experts.

Tony Blair's First Election

The 1997 general election was the first of three elections that Tony Blair won. He was re-elected in 2001 and 2005.