The 2001 election:
Manifestos:
Labour:
- More wealth and jobs for everybody
- Improve NHS
- Cut class sizes in schools
Conservative:
- Lower taxes
- Cut crime
- Protect countryside
- Sceptical of Europe
Lib Dem:
- Higher taxes for better public services
- Greater freedom for everyone
- Greater protection for the environment.
There was a huge amount of historical significance of the 2001 elections. After winning for a second time Labour are in a strong position and the 2001 win will provide a likely springboard for a third success, although Labour wasn’t able to secure the sound majority it wanted from an unusually small electorate (42% of votes only 413 seats).
The liberal Democrats won more seats than any other such party since 1929 (52 seats). The Conservatives on the other hand won fewer seats than in any other election since 1906 (166 seats) and the leader; William Hague resigned shortly after the unpromising result.
Why did Labour win again?
- Public services – get another chance after the conservative government
- Strength of economy – low unemployment and the public trusted labour on the economy
- Poor rivals – Conservatives:
- Too much work to do
- Hague was unpopular
- The party was looking for an identity.
The highlights of the 2001 campaign
14th May: A story is leaked about a Conservative tax cut of £20 billion. The source was the shadow secretary to the treasury, Oliver Letwin shortly after he resigned.
16th May: Jack Straw gets ‘booed’ by policemen, Tony Blair gets an earful (literally) from an angry voter and John Prescott punches a protester in Rhyll.
17th May: A welsh fuel protestor wins over much of the nation by throwing an egg at the deputy Prime Minster, John Prescott.
18th May: It is found out that John Prescott used to be a boxer and the tabloids print pictures of his boxing days.
1st June: Labour unveils a poster depicting William Hague with Margaret Thatcher’s hairdo, Thatcher made her appearance know a few days earlier saying “ Blair is destroying my legacy by stealth”.
8th June: Labour wins second term in government.
The role of the media
The media lost much of its influence in the 2001 election, especially the tabloids. During the campaign only 25% of front-page tabloid stories were about the election. The tabloids upped their stories and news about the election since the start of the campaign. Since 1997, many traditionally Tory papers, like The Sun, decided to back New Labour. Some papers have traditional links with a particular strain of political thought such as conservatism. The Daily Telegraph is widely regarded a Tory paper, as is the Daily Mail. The Express, which was probably most supportive of any daily of the Major administration, has since switched to a largely pro-Labour stance. The Mirror and The Guardian have traditionally supported the left of the political spectrum - usually Labour. Broadcasters on the other hand are obliged to ensure that all the main political parties have a fair hearing and the BBC have very strict guidelines to which its reports must adhere.
Below is a showing the voting intentions by readers from the main papers.
As you can see many more voters had intentions to vote Labour rather than Conservative; although the Mail and the Telegraph are renowned for being Tory papers.
The deciding seats
The 2001 election ended in much the same way the 1997 election did; Labour winning a landslide and the Tory leader resigning. Only a few seats changed hands and the Lib Dem’s gained a huge increase in number of seats.
The crucial seats were:
- Romford: Labour to Conservative
- Norfolk NW: Labour to Conservative
- Carmathen East: Labour to Plaid Cymru
- Chesterfield: Labour to Lib Dem’s
- Wyre Forest: Labour to Kidderminster hosp
Turnout
Turnout at the 2001 election was at an all time low with about 40% of the electorate staying at home. It was the worst since 1918 and uniformly low all over the country, amongst the lowest was Liverpool riverside where only 34.1% of the electorate voted. There are several reasons for this:
- The weather on polling day was bad.
- Many people thought Labour would win easily so chose not to vote.
- The voters were unimpressed by the main parties.
- The conservatives weren’t clearly standing for anything.
- Voters became suspicious of all politicians, believing they never did what they promised.
- No choices to choose from
The new cabinet
- David Blunkett replaces Jack Straw as the home secretary.
- Jack Straw rises to the foreign office.
- Robin Cook goes from foreign secretary to leader of the house.
- Patricia Hewitt goes from trade minister to trade secretary.
- Estelle Morris goes from education minister to education secretary.
The Conservatives
William Hague resigned as Tory leader after their disastrous result in the election.
"No man is indispensable.
No man is more important than the party,"
William Hague, post 2001 election.
As soon he announced his resignation the battle was on for a new leader; Ann Widicome, Michael Portillo, lain Duncan Smith, David Davis and Ken Clarke were among the ‘contestants’.
Iain Duncan Smith was elected as new leader.
The Lib Dem’s
The results of the 2001 election showed that the Lib Dem’s have moved up a league as they won 52 seats, 6 more than in 1997. They also managed to take Guildford from the Conservatives.
“We are the party of the future and this decade can see us as the party of the governance of our country”
Charles Kennedy, post 2001 election.
Labour
What will Labour implement for the next four years?
- Recruit more than 20,000 nurses and 10,000 teachers
- No rise is basic rate of income tax
- Rising living standards
- A modern criminal justice system
- Global poverty and climate change tackled.
