Electoral history of Margaret Thatcher

This is a summary of the electoral history of Margaret Thatcher, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley from 1959 to 1992.

Parliamentary elections

1950 general election, Dartford

General election 1950: Dartford^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Norman Dodds	38,128	56.38
	Conservative	Margaret Roberts	24,490	36.21
	Liberal	Anthony H. Giles	5,011	7.41	New
Majority			13,638	20.17
Turnout			67,629	85.51
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

1951 general election, Dartford

General election 1951: Dartford^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Norman Dodds	40,094	59.09
	Conservative	Margaret Roberts	27,760	40.91
Majority			12,334	18.18
Turnout			67,854	85.22
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+3.71

1959 general election, Finchley

General election 1959: Finchley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	29,697	53.2	―1.3
	Labour	Eric Deakins	13,437	24.1	―7.3
	Liberal	Henry Ivan Spence	12,701	22.7	+8.7
Majority			16,260	29.1	+6.0
Turnout			55,835	80.8	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.0

1964 general election, Finchley

General election 1964: Finchley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	24,591	46.6	―6.6
	Liberal	John Pardoe	15,789	29.9	+7.2
	Labour	Albert Edward Tomlinson	12,408	23.5	―0.6
Majority			8,802	16.7	―12.4
Turnout			52,788	78.2	―2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

1966 general election, Finchley

General election 1966: Finchley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	23,968	46.5	―0.1
	Labour	Yvonne Sieve	14,504	28.1	+4.6
	Liberal	Frank Davis	13,070	25.4	― 4.5
Majority			9,464	18.4	+1.7
Turnout			51,542	75.3	―2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	―2.4

1970 general election, Finchley

General election 1970: Finchley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	25,480	53.8	+7.3
	Labour	Michael Freeman	14,295	30.2	+2.1
	Liberal	Graham Mitchell	7,614	16.1	―9.3
Majority			11,185	23.6	+5.2
Turnout			47,389	65.6	―9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

February 1974 general election, Finchley

General election February 1974: Finchley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	18,180	43.7	―8.6
	Labour	Martin O'Connor	12,202	29.3	―2.3
	Liberal	Laurence Brass	11,221	27.0	+10.9
Majority			5,978	14.4
Turnout			41,603	78.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	―3.1

October 1974 general election, Finchley

General election October 1974: Finchley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	16,498	44.0	+0.3
	Labour	Martin O'Connor	12,587	33.6	+4.3
	Liberal	Laurence Brass	7,384	19.7	―7.3
	National Front	Janet Godfrey	993	2.7	New
Majority			3,911	10.4	―4.0
Turnout			37,462	69.5	―8.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	―2.0

1979 general election, Finchley

General election 1979: Finchley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	20,918	52.5	+8.5
	Labour	Richard May	13,040	32.7	―0.9
	Liberal	Anthony Paterson	5,254	13.2	―6.5
	National Front	William Verity	534	1.3	―1.4
	Independent Democrat	Elizabeth Lloyd	86	0.2	New
Majority			7,878	19.8	+9.4
Turnout			39,832	72.5	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.7

1983 general election, Finchley

General election 1983: Finchley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	19,616	51.1	―1.4
	Labour	Laurence Spigel	10,302	26.8	―5.9
	Liberal	Margaret Joachim	7,763	20.2	+7.0
	Ecology	Simone Wilkinson	279	0.7	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	235	0.6	New
	Ban Every Licensing Law Society	Anthony Noonan	75	0.2	New
	Rail Not Motorway	Helen Anscomb	42	0.1	New
	Law and Order in Gotham City	Anthony Whitehead	37	0.1	New
	Anti-Censorship	David Webb	28	0.1	New
	Party of Associates with Licensees	Brian Wareham	27	0.1	New
	Belgrano Blood-Hunger	Benjamin Wedmore	13	0.0	New
Majority			9,314	24.3	+4.5
Turnout			38,417	69.0	―3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

1987 general election, Finchley

General election 1987: Finchley^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	21,603	53.9	+2.8
	Labour	John Davies	12,690	31.7	+4.9
	Liberal	David Howarth	5,580	13.9	―7.3
	Gremloid Party	Lord Buckethead	131	0.3	New
	Gold Party	Michaelle St Vincent	59	0.2	New
Majority			8,913	22.2	―2.1
Turnout			40,063	69.4	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	―1.0

Conservative Party leadership elections

1975 leadership election

First ballot: 4 February 1975
Candidate		Votes	%
	Margaret Thatcher	130	47.1
	Edward Heath	119	43.1
	Hugh Fraser	16	5.8
Second ballot required

Second ballot: 11 February 1975
Candidate		Votes	%
	Margaret Thatcher	146	52.9
	William Whitelaw	79	28.6
	Geoffrey Howe	19	6.9
	Jim Prior	19	6.9
	John Peyton	11	4
Margaret Thatcher elected

1989 leadership election

Only ballot: 5 December 1989
Candidate		Votes	%
	Margaret Thatcher	314	84.0
	Sir Anthony Meyer	33	8.8
	Abstentions	3	0.8
	Spoilt	24	6.4
Majority		281	75.1
Turnout		374	N/A
Margaret Thatcher re-elected

1990 leadership election

First ballot: 20 November 1990
Candidate		Votes^[5]	%
	Margaret Thatcher	204	54.8
	Michael Heseltine	152	40.9
	Abstentions	16	4.3
Majority		52	14.0
Turnout		372	100
Second ballot required

United Kingdom general elections

1979 general election

UK General Election 1979
			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	622	339	63	1	+62	53.4	43.9	13,697,923	+8.1
	Labour	James Callaghan	623	269^[a]	4	54	−50	42.4	36.9	11,532,218	−2.3
	Liberal	David Steel	577	11	1	3	−2	1.7	13.8	4,313,804	−4.5
	SNP	William Wolfe	71	2	0	9	−9	0.31	1.6	504,259	−1.3
	UUP	Harry West	11	5	1	2	−1	0.79	0.8	254,578	−0.1
	National Front	John Tyndall	303	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.6	191,719	+0.2
	Plaid Cymru	Gwynfor Evans	36	2	0	1	−1	0.31	0.4	132,544	−0.2
	SDLP	Gerry Fitt	9	1	0	0	0	0.16	0.4	126,325	−0.2
	Alliance	Oliver Napier	12	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.3	82,892	+0.1
	DUP	Ian Paisley	5	3	2	0	+2	0.47	0.2	70,795	−0.1
	Ecology	Jonathan Tyler	53	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	39,918	+0.1
	UUUP	Ernest Baird	2	1	1	0	+1	0.16	0.1	39,856	N/A
	Ulster Popular Unionist	James Kilfedder	1	1	1	0	+1	0.16	0.1	36,989	+0.1
	Independent Labour	N/A	11	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	26,058	−0.1
	Irish Independence	Fergus McAteer and Frank McManus	4	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	23,086	N/A
	Ind. Republican	N/A	1	1	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	22,398	−0.1
	Independent	N/A	62	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	19,531	+0.1
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	38	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	16,858	0.0
	SLP	Jim Sillars	3	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	13,737	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	Michael Banda	60	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	12,631	+0.1
	Workers' Party	Tomás Mac Giolla	7	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.1	12,098	0.0
	Independent SDLP	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	10,785	N/A
	Unionist Party NI	Anne Dickson	3	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	8,021	−0.1
	Ind. Conservative	N/A	7	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	4,841	0.0
	NI Labour	Alan Carr	3	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	4,441	0.0
	Mebyon Kernow	Richard Jenkin	3	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	4,164	0.0
	Democratic Labour	Dick Taverne	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	3,785	−0.1
	Wessex Regionalist	Viscount Weymouth	7	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	3,090	N/A
	Socialist Unity	N/A	10	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	2,834	N/A
	United Labour	Paddy Devlin	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	1,895	N/A
	Independent Democratic	N/A	5	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	1,087	N/A
	United Country	Edmund Iremonger	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	1,033	N/A
	Independent Liberal	N/A	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	1,023	0.0
	Independent Socialist	N/A	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	770	0.0
	Workers (Leninist)	Royston Bull	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	767	0.0
	New Britain	Dennis Delderfield	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	717	0.0
	Fellowship	Ronald Mallone	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	531	0.0
	More Prosperous Britain	Tom Keen	6	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	518	0.0
	United English National	John Kynaston	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	238	0.0
	Cornish Nationalist	James Whetter	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	227	N/A
	Social Democrat	Donald Kean	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	144	0.0
	English National	Frank Hansford-Miller	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	142	0.0
	The Dog Lovers' Party	Auberon Waugh	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	79	0.0
	Socialist (GB)	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	0.0	78	0.0

Government's new majority	43
Total votes cast	31,221,362
Turnout	76%

1983 general election

1983 UK general election
			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	633	397	47	10	+37	61.1	42.4	13,012,316	−1.5
	Labour	Michael Foot	633	209^[d]	4	55	−51	32.2	27.6	8,456,934	−9.3
	Alliance	David Steel & Roy Jenkins	636^[e]	23	12	0	+12	3.5	25.4	7,794,770	+11.6
	SNP	Gordon Wilson	72	2	0	0	0	0.3	1.1	331,975	−0.5
	UUP	James Molyneaux	16	11	3	1	+2	1.7	0.8	259,952	0.0
	DUP	Ian Paisley	14	3	2	1	+1	0.5	0.5	152,749	+0.3
	SDLP	John Hume	17	1	0	1	−1	0.2	0.4	137,012	0.0
	Plaid Cymru	Dafydd Wigley	38	2	0	0	0	0.3	0.4	125,309	0.0
	Sinn Féin	Ruairí Ó Brádaigh	14	1	1	1	0	0.2	0.3	102,701	N/A
	Alliance	Oliver Napier	12	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	61,275	−0.1
	Ecology	Jonathon Porritt	109	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	54,299	+0.1
	Independent	N/A	73	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	30,422	N/A
	National Front	Andrew Brons	60	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	27,065	−0.5
	UPUP	James Kilfedder	1	1	1	0	+1	0.2	0.1	22,861	N/A
	Independent Labour	N/A	8	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	16,447	0.0
	Workers' Party	Tomás Mac Giolla	14	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	14,650	−0.1
	BNP	John Tyndall	54	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	14,621	N/A
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	35	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	11,606	−0.1
	Independent Socialist	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	10,326	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	N/A	10	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	9,442	0.0
	Independent Communist	N/A	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	4,760	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	Michael Banda	21	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	3,798	−0.1
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	11	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	3,015	N/A
	Wessex Regionalist	N/A	10	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,750	0.0
	Mebyon Kernow	Richard Jenkin	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,151	N/A
	Independent DUP	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,134	N/A
	Licensees	N/A	4	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	934	N/A
	Nationalist Party	N/A	5	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	874	N/A
	Labour and Trade Union	Peter Hadden	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	584	N/A
	Revolutionary Communist	Frank Furedi	4	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	581	N/A
	Freedom Party	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	508	N/A

Government's new majority	144
Total votes cast	30,671,137
Turnout	72.7%

1987 general election

UK general election 1987
			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	633	376^[j]	9	30	−21	57.85	42.2	13,760,583	−0.2
	Labour	Neil Kinnock	633	229	26	6	+20	35.23	30.8	10,029,807	+3.2
	Alliance	David Owen & David Steel	633	22	5	6	−1	3.38	22.6	7,341,633	−2.8
	SNP	Gordon Wilson	72	3	3	2	+1	0.46	1.3	416,473	+0.2
	UUP	James Molyneaux	12	9	0	2	−2	1.38	0.8	276,230	0.0
	SDLP	John Hume	13	3	2	0	+2	0.46	0.5	154,067	+0.1
	Plaid Cymru	Dafydd Elis-Thomas	38	3	1	0	+1	0.46	0.4	123,599	0.0
	Green	N/A	133	0	0	0	0		0.3	89,753	+0.1
	DUP	Ian Paisley	4	3	0	0	0	0.46	0.3	85,642	−0.2
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	14	1	0	0	0	0.15	0.3	83,389	0.0
	Alliance	John Alderdice	16	0	0	0	0		0.2	72,671	0.0
	Workers' Party	Tomás Mac Giolla	14	0	0	0	0		0.1	19,294	+0.1
	UPUP	James Kilfedder	1	1	0	0	0	0.15	0.1	18,420	0.0
	Real Unionist	Robert McCartney	1	0	0	0	0		0.1	14,467	N/A
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	19	0	0	0	0		0.0	6,078	0.0
	Protestant Unionist	George Seawright	1	0	0	0	0		0.0	5,671	N/A
	Red Front	N/A	14	0	0	0	0		0.0	3,177	N/A
	Orkney and Shetland Movement	John Goodlad	1	0	0	0	0		0.0	3,095	N/A
	Moderate Labour	Brian Marshall	2	0	0	0	0		0.0	2,269	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	5	0	0	0	0		0.0	1,951	0.0
	Workers Revolutionary	Sheila Torrance	10	0	0	0	0		0.0	1,721	0.0
	Independent Liberal	N/A	1	0	0	0	0		0.0	686	0.0
	BNP	John Tyndall	2	0	0	0	0		0.0	553	0.0
	Spare the Earth	N/A	1	0	0	0	0		0.0	522	N/A

Government's new majority	102
Total votes cast	32,529,578
Turnout	75.3%

Notes

^ The seat and vote count figures for Labour given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons
^ The Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party had folded in 1978. Of its three MPs, two joined the Ulster Unionist Party (one held his seat, the other lost to the Democratic Unionist Party) and the third defended and held his seat for the United Ulster Unionist Party.
^ James Kilfedder had been previously elected as an Ulster Unionist MP, but left the party, defending and holding his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. He subsequently founded the Ulster Popular Unionist Party but did not use that label in this election.
^ Includes Speaker of the House of Commons, George Thomas
^ Includes official Liberal candidates who were not given national Alliance endorsement in three constituencies: Liverpool Broadgreen, Hackney South and Shoreditch, and Hammersmith.
^ The SDP–Liberal Alliance vote is compared with the Liberal Party vote in the 1979 election.
^ The Independent Unionist elected in the 1979 election defended and held his seat for the Ulster Popular Unionist Party. The United Ulster Unionist Party dissolved and its sole MP did not re-stand.
^ The Independent Republican elected in the 1979 election died in 1981. In the ensuring by-election the seat was won by Bobby Sands, an Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner who then died and was succeeded by an Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner candidate Owen Carron. He defended and lost his seat standing for Sinn Féin who contested seats in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1959.
^ This election was fought under revised boundaries. The changes reflect those comparing to the notional results on the new boundaries. One significant change was the increase in the number of seats allocated to Northern Ireland from 12 to 17.
^ The seat and vote count figures for the Conservatives given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons

References

^ "Dartford :: UK General Election 1950". Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
^ "Dartford :: UK General Election 1951". Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^ "1990: Thatcher fails to win party mandate". On This Day. BBC News. 20 November 1990. Retrieved 13 July 2011.

[LabourSpeaker-6] The seat and vote count figures for Labour given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons

[VPUP-7] The Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party had folded in 1978. Of its three MPs, two joined the Ulster Unionist Party (one held his seat, the other lost to the Democratic Unionist Party) and the third defended and held his seat for the United Ulster Unionist Party.

[IUU-8] James Kilfedder had been previously elected as an Ulster Unionist MP, but left the party, defending and holding his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. He subsequently founded the Ulster Popular Unionist Party but did not use that label in this election.

[Speaker-9] Includes Speaker of the House of Commons, George Thomas

[10] Includes official Liberal candidates who were not given national Alliance endorsement in three constituencies: Liverpool Broadgreen, Hackney South and Shoreditch, and Hammersmith.

[11] The SDP–Liberal Alliance vote is compared with the Liberal Party vote in the 1979 election.

[12] The Independent Unionist elected in the 1979 election defended and held his seat for the Ulster Popular Unionist Party. The United Ulster Unionist Party dissolved and its sole MP did not re-stand.

[13] The Independent Republican elected in the 1979 election died in 1981. In the ensuring by-election the seat was won by Bobby Sands, an Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner who then died and was succeeded by an Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner candidate Owen Carron. He defended and lost his seat standing for Sinn Féin who contested seats in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1959.

[14] This election was fought under revised boundaries. The changes reflect those comparing to the notional results on the new boundaries. One significant change was the increase in the number of seats allocated to Northern Ireland from 12 to 17.

[speaker-15] The seat and vote count figures for the Conservatives given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons

[1] "Dartford :: UK General Election 1950". Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

[2] "Dartford :: UK General Election 1951". Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

[electoralcalculus1983-3] "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.

[electoralcalculus1987-4] "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.

[5] "1990: Thatcher fails to win party mandate". On This Day. BBC News. 20 November 1990. Retrieved 13 July 2011.

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