[borninthewrongdecade]

Hi everyone,

I have decided to post this in the 'Conservatism' section as this was very much Thatcher's election. I hope this is the most appropriate place to post it.

I am an A-Level student undertaking an Extended Project (a project where you choose a question and then do extensive research and write a report on your topic) and I wondered if I could ask your perspective on my chosen topic.

My project is on the subject of why Margaret Thatcher won the 1983 general election, assessing the factors which caused her election victory. These include economic factors, the Falklands War and the divided Labour Party as well as others. I would be very grateful if you could offer your opinions on which factor you think was most important or if you think it was a combination or none of these. It would be even better if you voted in the election and can offer an insight on why you voted for who you did and what was your biggest influence.

Thanks!

[Siberian Fox]

The Labout/SDP–Liberal Alliance split was the major factor in the Tory victory in 1983 due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system. The Falklands War victory was only a minor factor.

Just look at a breakdown of the election results:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kin ... 83#Results

Between them Labour and the SDP-Liberal Alliance got 53% of the vote, versus the Tory's 42.4%. The conservative share of the vote fell compared to 1979 but the number of seats the Tories won went up. Even if you take off seats for gerrymandering, it's still net gain for less votes.

If Labour had campaigned as a united party then one can speculate as to whether the Tory share of the vote would have been even lower. But that's impossible to really tell.

[borninthewrongdecade]

Thank you for your reply

[Rich]

The 1983 General election was a massive vote of no confidence in Margaret Thatcher. That she only got 42% standing against Michael Foot was surely a humiliating result.

[houndred]

Socialist think that if they try really really hard they can pretend that the Conservatives did not win the 1983 election.

[Rich]

Socialist think that if they try really really hard they can pretend that the Conservatives did not win the 1983 election.

Margaret Thatcher did not have majority support for he divisive policies and style of government, the same as Allende lacked a majority for his. its got nothing to do with political bias but the inadequacy of the first past the post geographical electoral system. It fosters winner takes all, instability, extremism and demagoguery. Union power was tamed, very high tax rates were brought down, the economy was deregulated in many countries across the world, without the costly strife, 10 month miners strike, counter productive demagoguery and Poll tax that Thatcher brought us. it was only the sheer incompetence of her enemies that gave Thatcher victory in the Falklands war and the Miners strike. She nearly took Britain to catastrophe. With the Poll tax no one managed to save her from her own cretinism.

[houndred]

Thatcher dragged Britain from the economic malaise of the winter of discontent, tamed the unions that had destroyed Britain's competitiveness and released taxes back to wealth creators to lead the UK back to prosperity. She defeated Marxists in the coal fields at home and ,along with Reagan, engineered the collapse of the Soviet union and ended the cold war. Without her we would be Greece today.

Allende broke the constitution of Chile and refused to step down after the Chilean congress passed a no confidence vote. This made him a hero for all leftists.