On Thursday 3 May 1979, the 1979 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 635 members of the House of Commons, with 516 constituencies being in England.

The election was held following the defeat of the Labour government in a no-confidence motion on 28 March 1979, six months before the Parliament was due for dissolution in October 1979. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, ousted the incumbent Labour government of Prime Minister James Callaghan, gaining a parliamentary majority of 43 seats. The election was the first of four consecutive election victories for the Conservative Party.

The Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher won the most votes and seats in England, and gained a parliamentary majority of 43 seats across the country. They received 12.26 million English votes, a record at the time.

Candidates

Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1979 general election in England.

Affiliation Candidates Conservative Party 516 Labour Party 516 Liberal Party 506 National Front 297 Workers Revolutionary Party 53 Ecology Party 50 Independent 33 Communist Party of Great Britain 18 Other 85Total 2,074

Results +PartySeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 306 53 0 53 59.3 12,255,514 47.2 8.3 203 0 52 52 39.3 9,525,280 36.7 3.4 7 1 2 1 1.4 3,878,055 14.9 5.3 0 0 0 — 189,150 0.7 0.2 0 0 0 — 38,116 0.1 0.1 0 0 0 — 23,015 0.1 0 0 0 — 11,708 0.0 0 0 0 — 11,627 0.0 0 0 0 — 6,622 0.0 0 0 0 — 5,621 0.0 0 0 0 — 4,164 0.0 0 0 0 — 3,785 0.0 0.1 0 colspan=3 — 3,090 0.0 0 colspan=3 — 2,742 0.0   Ratepayers (Leek) 0 colspan=3 — 1,451 0.0   United Country 0 colspan=3 — 1,033 0.0 0 0 0 — 911 0.0 0 colspan=3 — 531 0.0   Anti-Common Market 0 colspan=3 — 926 0.0  Oxford Ecological Movement 0 colspan=3 — 887 0.0   Workers (Leninist) 0 colspan=3 — 824 0.0 0 colspan=3 — 717 0.0  Silly Party 0 colspan=3 — 642 0.0   Troops out of Ireland 0 colspan=3 — 638 0.0   Christian Anti-Abortion 0 colspan=3 — 569 0.0   Labour Alliance Party 0 colspan=3 — 565 0.0 0 0 0 — 518 0.0   Independent Democrat 0 colspan=3 — 438 0.0   Fancy Dress 0 colspan=3 — 328 0.0   Irish National Party 0 colspan=3 — 243 0.0   United English National 0 colspan=3 — 238 0.0   Independent Rhodesian Front 0 colspan=3 — 232 0.0   Cornish Nationalist 0 colspan=3 — 227 0.0   Citizen's Protest Vote 0 colspan=3 — 204 0.0   Child and Family Protection 0 colspan=3 — 190 0.0   Public Safety 0 colspan=3 — 182 0.0   British Socialist Empire 0 colspan=3 — 156 0.0   Homeland Party 0 colspan=3 — 146 0.0 0 colspan=3 — 144 0.0 0 0 0 — 142 0.0   Independent Businessman 0 colspan=3 — 115 0.0   Anti-Corruption 0 colspan=3 — 103 0.0   Providers Through Care 0 colspan=3 — 102 0.0   Dog Lover's Party 0 colspan=3 — 79 0.0 0 0 0 — 78 0.0   Revolutionary Reform 0 colspan=3 — 77 0.0   Police State Prevention 0 colspan=3 — 61 0.0   Libertarian Party 0 colspan=3 — 34 0.0   Community Party 0 colspan=3 — 30 0.0 Total 516 0 100.0 25,972,250 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 75.9 3.3

By region

Note: the following tables indicate the results according to the regions of England which were established in 1994. These regions were not used at the time for the purposes of this election.

East Midlands

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 23 5 0 5 59.0 46.8 8.3 16 0 5 5 41.0 38.6 3.6 0 0 0 0.0 13.7 4.3   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.9 0.5 Total 39

East of England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 39 8 0 8 86.7 51.5 9.4 5 0 8 8 11.1 31.9 4.3 1 0 0 2.2 15.8 5.8   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.9 0.7 Total 45

Greater London

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 50 9 0 9 54.3 46.0 8.6 42 0 9 9 45.7 39.6 4.3 0 0 0 0.0 11.9 5.1   Others 0 0 0 0.0 2.4 0.6 Total 92

North East England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 26 0 0 83.9 51.8 2.1 4 0 0 12.9 34.2 6.1 1 0 0 3.2 12.2 4.2   Others 0 0 0 0.0 1.7 0.1 Total 31

North West England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 48 0 0 7 58.5 42.4 2.1 32 0 0 6 39.0 43.9 6.7 2 1 0 1 2.4 13.0 4.9   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.6 0.2 Total 82

South East England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 67 6 0 6 95.7 55.8 9.1 2 0 6 6 2.9 24.8 3.7 1 0 0 1.4 18.2 6.1   Others 0 0 0 0.0 1.1 0.5 Total 70

South West England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 40 5 0 5 87.0 51.9 8.3 5 0 3 3 11.0 24.4 4.3 1 0 2 2 2.0 22.4 4.9   Others 0 0 0 0.0 1.3 0.9 Total 46

West Midlands

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 31 10 0 10 55.4 47.1 9.6 25 0 10 10 44.6 40.1 3.8 0 0 0 0.0 11.5 6.3   Others 0 0 0 0.0 1.3 0.5 Total 56

Yorkshire and the Humber

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 34 0 4 4 61.8 44.5 1.9 20 4 0 4 36.4 39.5 6.9 1 0 0 1.8 15.1 5.1   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.9 0.1 Total 55

See also 1979 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland 1979 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1979 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Notes

References