Home > UK general election, 2001

The United Kingdom general election of 7 June 2001 was dubbed as "the quiet landslide" by the media. After a landslide victory of the Labour Party in the previous 1997 elections, they now had another major victory by managing to maintain their position. In fact, Tony Blair was the first Labour prime minister to win a full second consecutive term in office, and he did so with the greatest majority ever for a party in government. Outside Northern Ireland (which mostly has different parties and a different electoral landscape from the rest of the UK although a few UK-wide parties stand with minimal success), 620 out of 641 seats remained with the same party as they had been in 1997. The Conservatives netted a gain of only 1 seat after their crushing defeat of 1997 (gaining a few seats from Labour, but losing to the Liberal Democrats), but the Liberal Democrats made a gain of 6 more seats from their already historical high of 1997. With 52 seats, the Liberal Democrats were well established as the third party of Britain and had their best result since the 1920s.

The general election was originally scheduled for 3 May. However in an effort to eradicate the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease the Prime Minister made the decision to postpone until June, a risky move to take as it gave the impression the country was in a state of crisis.

The elections were also marked by apathy from the voting public, turnout being only 59%, the lowest since 1918Events January January 8 President Woodrow Wilson announces his " Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I. February February 3 The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long).. Throughout the election the Labour party had maintained a significant lead in the opinion polls and the result was deemed to be so certain that some bookmakerA bookmaker or a bookie is an organisation or a person that takes bets and may pay winnings depending upon results and, depending on the nature of the bet, the odds. Bookmaking may be legal or illegal, and may be regulated; in the United Kingdom it was ats paid out for a Labour majority before the election day.

Labour won an majority of 167 overall (previously 179) and 247 over the Conservatives (previously 254).

In Northern Ireland, the election was far more dramatic and marked a move away from the Good Friday Agreement, with the moderate Protestant and Catholic parties ( UUPThe Ulster Unionist Party UUP sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP is a political party in Northern Ireland representing the unionist community, and was the party of government in Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. Until 2003 i and SDLPThe Social Democratic and Labour Party SDLP — Irish: Pairti Soisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. The SDLP is also a social democratic party, and is affiliated to the Socialist Intern) losing and the more extreme nationalist parties ( DUPThe Democratic Unionist Party is a hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland led by Ian Paisley. It is the largest unionist party at both the Northern Ireland Assembly level and in the Westminster Parliament. Established in the 1970s by Ian Paisley, it and Sinn FéinSinn Fein (in the Irish language "ourselves" or "we ourselves"; not as sometimes incorrectly translated, "ourselves alone") is an Irish political party. Originally founded by Arthur Griffith as an Irish separatist monarchist party, in 1917 it moved to cam) winning. It also saw a tightening of the parties as the small UK Unionist PartyThe UK Unionist Party UKUP is a small political party operating in Northern Ireland. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election in 1995 in North Down and then further constituted to contest lost its only seat.