On Thursday 9 April 1992, the 1992 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 651 members of the House of Commons, with 524 constituencies being in England.

Candidates

Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1992 general election in England.

Affiliation Candidates Conservative Party 524 Labour Party 524 Liberal Democrats 522 Natural Law Party 272 Green Party of England and Wales 223 Other 263Total 2,328

Analysis

John Major's Conservative Party won a decisive majority of English seats for the fourth successive election, although the Labour Party made substantial gains. Together with Conservative seats in Scotland and Wales, this gave the Conservatives an overall majority in the House of Commons of 21 seats. This was a significant reduction from the Conservative majority of 102 seats in the 1987 general election.

Although the party won the election, the Conservatives lost notable members of Parliament in England. Chris Patten, the then Chairman of the Conservative Party, lost his seat of Bath, which he had held the seat since 1979, to the Liberal Democrats. He was later appointed Governor of Hong Kong. Lynda Chalker also lost her seat of Wallasey, which she had held since the February 1974 general election. Francis Maude lost his seat of North Warwickshire and Bedworth to Mike O'Brien, though returned at the next election.

Former Conservative leader and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Labour Party leader Michael Foot, former Social Democratic Party leader David Owen, three former Chancellors of the Exchequer, Denis Healey, Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson, former Home Secretary Merlyn Rees, Norman Tebbit, Rosie Barnes and Speaker of the House of Commons Bernard Weatherill did not re-contest their constituencies in England, leaving the House of Commons following the election.

Future Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith was elected to Parliament as the member of Parliament (MP) for Chingford and Woodford Green for the first time in this election. Betty Boothroyd, the re-elected MP for West Bromwich West, subsequently became Speaker of the House of Commons on 28 April 1992.

Results +PartySeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 319 1 40 39 60.9 12,796,772 45.5 0.8 195 40 0 40 37.2 9,551,910 33.9 4.4 10 4 4 1.9 5,398,293 19.2 4.7 0 0 0 1.9 156,463 0.6 0.3 0 colspan=3 1.9 57,415 0.2   Others 0 0 0 — 187,653 0.7 0.6 Total 524 1 100.0 28,148,506 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 78.0 2.6

By region Note: these results are based on the previously-used standard statistical regions, not the current regions of England established in 1994.

North This region included Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and constituencies in the defunct county of Cleveland in the current English region of North East England, as well as Cumbria.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 29 2 0 2 80.6 914,712 50.6 4.2 6 0 2 2 16.7 603,893 33.4 1.1 1 0 0 2.8 281,236 15.6 5.5   Others 0 0 0 0.0 8,704 0.5 0.2 Total 36 1,808,545

Yorkshire and the Humber Like the current statistical region, this region included North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire constituencies in Humberside.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 34 1 0 1 63.0 1,267,515 44.3 3.7 20 0 1 1 37.0 1,084,242 37.9 0.5 0 0 0 0.0 481,260 16.8 4.8   Others 0 0 0 0.0 25,240 0.9 0.6 Total 54 2,858,257

East Midlands Like the current statistical region, this region included Derbyshire, Lincolnshire (excluding North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 28 0 3 3 66.7 1,149,514 46.6 2.2 14 3 0 3 33.3 922,397 37.4 7.4 0 0 0 0.0 376,608 15.3 5.7   Others 0 0 0 0.0 18,037 0.7 0.3 Total 42 2,466,556

East Anglia This region included Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 17 0 2 2 85.0 635,754 51.1 1.1 3 2 0 2 15.0 348,353 28.0 6.3 0 0 0 0.0 242,984 19.5 6.2   Others 0 0 0 0.0 18,424 1.5 1.0 Total 20 1,245,515

Greater London This consisted of the constituencies within the county and region of Greater London.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 48 0 10 10 57.1 1,630,333 45.3 1.2 35 12 0 12 41.7 1,332,424 37.1 5.6 1 0 2 2 1.2 543,741 15.1 6.2   Others 0 0 0 0.0 89,344 2.5 1.7 Total 84 3,595,842

South East England This region included Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex within the current South East England. It also included Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex within the current East of England region.

However, it excluded Greater London, which was otherwise part of the standard statistical region at the time.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 106 0 1 1 97.2 3,519,149 54.5 1.1 3 2 0 2 2.8 1,341,299 20.8 4.0 0 0 0 0.0 1,507,305 23.3 3.8   Others 0 0 0 0.0 88,188 1.4 0.9 Total 109 1 6,455,871

South West England Like the current statistical region, this region included Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, and the defunct county of Avon.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 38 0 6 6 79.2 1,387,923 47.6 3.0 6 3 0 3 12.5 916,763 31.4 1.6 4 3 0 3 8.3 561,836 19.2 3.3   Others 0 0 0 0.0 52,191 1.8 1.3 Total 48 2,918,871

West Midlands Like the current statistical region, this region included Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the county of West Midlands, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 29 0 7 7 50.0 1,390,246 44.8 0.8 29 7 0 7 50.0 1,203,351 38.8 5.5 0 0 0 0.0 466,228 15.0 5.8   Others 0 0 0 0.0 45,124 1.5 1.1 Total 58 3,104,949

North West This region included Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 44 8 0 8 60.3 1,660,023 44.9 3.7 27 0 7 7 37.0 1,395,718 37.8 0.2 2 0 1 1 2.7 582,168 15.8 4.8   Others 0 0 0 0.0 56,349 1.5 1.3 Total 73 3,694,258

See also 1992 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland 1992 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1992 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Notes

References