A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. This was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party, which won a second landslide under leader Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool in 1820 to lead a party into three successive electoral victories. The Conservatives were returned to government with a net loss of only 21 seats, which left them with 376 MPs and a reduced but still overwhelming majority of 102 seats. The Conservatives have not matched or surpassed this seat total in any subsequent general election, although they recorded a greater share of the popular vote in the 2019 general election.
The Conservatives ran a campaign focusing on lower taxes, a strong economy and strong defence. They also emphasised that unemployment had just fallen below the three million mark for the first time since 1981, and inflation was standing at 4%, its lowest level since the 1960s. National newspapers also continued to largely back the Conservative government, particularly The Sun, which ran articles against the Labour Party, led by Neil Kinnock, with headlines such as "Why I'm backing Kinnock, by Stalin".
Following Michael Foot's resignation in the aftermath of Labour's landslide defeat at the 1983 general election, Kinnock was slowly moving the party towards a more centrist policy platform, following the promulgation of a left-wing one under Foot's leadership. Kinnock's main aim was to re-establish the party as the main progressive centre-left alternative to the Conservatives, after the rise of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) forced Labour onto the defensive, and he succeeded in doing so at this general election. Labour increased its vote share in Scotland, Wales and the North of England, but still returned only 229 MPs to Westminster. In London, the Conservatives made gains in several previously Labour-held constituencies.
The Alliance between the SDP and the Liberal Party was renewed, but co-leaders David Owen and David Steel could not agree whether to support either major party in the event of a hung parliament. The election was a disappointment for the Alliance, which saw its vote share fall and suffered a net loss of one seat as well as former SDP leader Roy Jenkins losing his seat to Labour. This led to the two Alliance parties merging completely soon afterwards to become the Liberal Democrats. In Northern Ireland, the main unionist parties maintained their alliance in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement; however, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) lost two seats to the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). One of the UUP losses was former Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell, famous for his stance against immigration, and formerly a Conservative MP.
The election night was covered live on the BBC, presented by David Dimbleby, Peter Snow and Robin Day. It was also broadcast on ITV, presented by Alastair Burnet, Peter Sissons and Alastair Stewart.
The 1987 general election saw the election of the first Black Members of Parliament: Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant, all as representatives for the Labour Party. Other newcomers included future Cabinet members David Blunkett, John Redwood, John Reid, Andrew Smith and Alistair Darling, future Shadow Cabinet minister Ann Widdecombe, and future SNP Leader Alex Salmond. MPs who left the House of Commons as a result of this election include former Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, Keith Joseph, Jim Prior, Ian Mikardo, former SDP leader and Labour Cabinet Minister Roy Jenkins, former Health Minister Enoch Powell (who had defected to the UUP in Northern Ireland from the Conservatives in 1974) and Clement Freud.
Campaign and policies The Conservative campaign emphasised lower taxes, a strong economy and defence, and also employed rapid-response reactions to take advantage of Labour errors. Norman Tebbit and Saatchi & Saatchi spearheaded the Conservative campaign. However, when on "Wobbly Thursday" it was rumoured a Marplan opinion poll showed a narrow 2% Conservative lead, the "exiles" camp of David Young, Tim Bell and the advertising firm Young & Rubicam advocated a more aggressively anti-Labour message. This was when, according to Young's memoirs, Young grabbed Tebbit by the lapels and shook him, shouting: "Norman, listen to me, we're about to lose this fucking election." In his memoirs, Tebbit defends the Conservative campaign: "We finished exactly as planned on the ground where Labour was weak and we were strong—defence, taxation, and the economy." During the election campaign, however, Tebbit and party leader Margaret Thatcher argued.
Bell and Saatchi & Saatchi produced memorable posters for the Conservatives, such as a picture of a British soldier's arms raised in surrender with the caption "Labour's Policy On Arms"—a reference to Labour's policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament. The first Conservative party political broadcast played on the theme of "Freedom" and ended with a fluttering Union Jack, the hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country (which Thatcher would later quote in her "Sermon on the Mound") and the slogan "It's Great To Be Great Again".
The Labour campaign was a marked change from previous efforts; professionally directed by Peter Mandelson and Bryan Gould, it concentrated on presenting and improving Neil Kinnock's image to the electorate. Labour's first party political broadcast, dubbed Kinnock: The Movie, was directed by Hugh Hudson of Chariots of Fire fame, and concentrated on portraying Kinnock as a caring, compassionate family man. It was filmed at the Great Orme in Wales and had "Ode to Joy" and Brahms' 1st Symphony as its music. He was particularly critical of the high unemployment that the government's economic policies had resulted in, as well as condemning the wait for treatment that many patients had endured on the National Health Service. Kinnock's personal popularity jumped 16 points overnight following the initial broadcast.
On 24 May, Kinnock was interviewed by David Frost and claimed that Labour's alternative defence strategy in the event of a Soviet attack would be "using the resources you've got to make any occupation totally untenable". In a speech two days later Thatcher attacked Labour's defence policy as a programme for "defeat, surrender, occupation, and finally, prolonged guerrilla fighting ... I do not understand how anyone who aspires to Government can treat the defence of our country so lightly".
During the 1987 election campaign the Conservative Party issued attack posters which claimed that the Labour Party wanted the book Young, Gay and Proud to be read in schools, as well as Police: Out of School, The Playbook for Kids about Sex, and The Milkman's on his Way, which, according to the Monday Club's Jill Knight MP – who introduced Section 28 and later campaigned against same-sex marriage – were being taught to "little children as young as five and six", which contained "brightly coloured pictures of little stick men showed all about homosexuality and how it was done", and "explicitly described homosexual intercourse and, indeed, glorified it, encouraging youngsters to believe that it was better than any other sexual way of life".Quoted in Hansard, , 6 December 1999, Column 1102.
Endorsements The following newspapers endorsed political parties running in the election in the following ways:'Newspaper support in UK general elections' (2010) on The Guardian. Newspaper Party/ies endorsed The Sun Conservative Party Daily Mirror Labour Party Daily Mail Conservative Party Daily Express Conservative Party Daily Telegraph Conservative Party The Guardian Labour PartyThe Independent None The TimesConservative Party
Opinion polling
Timeline The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Buckingham Palace on 11 May and asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament on 18 May, announcing that the election would be held on 11 June. The key dates were as follows: Monday 18 MayDissolution of the 49th Parliament and campaigning officially beginsWednesday 10 June Campaigning officially endsThursday 11 June Polling dayFriday 12 June The Conservative Party wins with a majority of 102 to retain powerWednesday 17 June50th Parliament assemblesThursday 25 JuneState Opening of Parliament
Results
The Conservatives were returned by a second landslide victory after their first in 1983, with a comfortable majority, down slightly on 1983 with a swing of 1.5% towards Labour. This marked the first time since the Great Reform Act of 1832 that a party leader had won three consecutive elections, although the Conservatives had won consecutively in the 1950s under three different leaders (Churchill in 1951, Eden in 1955 and Macmillan in 1959) and early in the century, the Liberals also had three successive wins under two leaders (Henry Campbell-Bannerman in 1906 and H. H. Asquith twice in 1910). The Conservative lead over Labour of 11.4% was the second-greatest for any party since the Second World War; surpassed only by the previous 1983 result.
The BBC announced the result at 02:35. Increasing polarisation marked divisions across the country; the Conservatives dominated Southern England and took additional seats from Labour in London and the rest of the South, but performed less well in Northern England, Scotland and Wales, losing many of the seats they had won there at previous elections. Yet the overall result of this election proved that Margaret Thatcher's policies retained significant support.
Despite initial optimism and the professional campaign by Neil Kinnock, the election brought only twenty additional seats for Labour from the 1983 Conservative landslide. In many southern areas, the Labour vote actually fell, with the party losing seats in London. However, it represented a decisive victory against the SDP–Liberal Alliance and marked out the Labour Party as the main contender to the Conservative Party. This was in stark contrast to 1983, when the Alliance votes almost matched Labour; although Labour had almost 10 times as many seats as the Alliance due to the structure of the First-Past-The-Post voting system.
The result for the Alliance was a disappointment, in that they had hoped to overtake Labour as the Official Opposition in the UK in terms of vote share. Instead, they lost Roy Jenkins' seat and saw their vote share drop by almost 3%, with a widening gap of 8% between them and the Labour Party (compared to a 2% gap four years before). These results would eventually lead to the end of the Alliance and the birth of the Liberal Democrats.
Most of the prominent MPs retained their seats. Notable losses included: Enoch Powell (the controversial former Conservative Cabinet Minister who had defected to the Ulster Unionist Party), Gordon Wilson (leader of the Scottish National Party) and two Alliance members: Liberal Clement Freud and former SDP leader Roy Jenkins (a former Labour Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer). Neil Kinnock increased his share of the vote in Islwyn by almost 12%. Margaret Thatcher increased her share of the vote in her Finchley seat, but the Labour vote increased more, slightly reducing her majority.
In Northern Ireland, the various unionist parties maintained an electoral pact (with few dissenters) in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. However, the Ulster Unionists lost two seats to the Social Democratic and Labour Party.
The Conservatives' victory could also arguably be attributed to the rise in living standards during their time in office. As noted by Dennis Kavanagh and David Butler:
Summary of seats returned