1997 United Kingdom general election in Wales

These are the results of the 1997 United Kingdom general election in Wales. The election was held on 1 May 1997 and all 40 seats in Wales were contested. The Labour Party won a landslide majority of Welsh MPs, gaining seven seats for a total of 34 out of 40. The Liberal Democrats gained one seat, whilst Plaid Cymru retained their four MPs.[1]

1997 United Kingdom general election in Wales
1 May 1997
All 40 Welsh seats to the House of Commons
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Tony Blair Dafydd Wigley Paddy Ashdown
Party Labour Plaid Cymru Liberal Democrats
Leader since 21 July 1994 26 October 1991 16 July 1988
Last election 27 seats, 49.5% 4 seats, 8.9% 1 seat, 12.4%
Seats before 27† 4† 1†
Seats won 34 4 2
Seat change 7* 1*
Popular vote 885,935 161,030 200,020
Percentage 54.7% 10.0% 12.4%
Swing 5.2% 1.1% 0.1%
†Notional 1992 results if held on the 1997 boundaries

*Indicates boundary change - so this is a notional figure.
Main article: 1997 United Kingdom general election

The Conservatives lost all of their Welsh MPs, leaving them without representation in Wales for the first time since 1906.[2][3][4] They would not gain another MP until the 2005 general election.[5]

Results

Below is a table summarising the results of the 1997 general election in Wales.[1]

Party[6] Seats Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net +/- % seats Total votes % votes Change
Labour 34 7 0 7 85.0 885,935 54.7 5.2
Conservative 0 0 8 8 — 317,127 19.6 9.0
Liberal Democrats 2 1 0 1 5.0 200,020 12.4 0.1
Plaid Cymru 4 0 0 10.0 161,030 10.0 1.1
Referendum 0 0 0 — 38,245 2.4 New
Socialist Labour 0 0 0 — 6,203 0.4 New
Independent Labour 0 0 0 — 4,633 0.3 New
Independent 0 0 0 — 2,258 0.2 N/A
Green 0 0 0 — 1,718 0.1 0.3
Other parties 0 0 0 — 3,087 0.2 N/A
  • Jones, Barry (1997). "The 1997 general election in Wales". Regional & Federal Studies. 7 (3): 173–175. doi:10.1080/13597569708421023. ISSN 1359-7566.

References
  1. "General election results 1 May 1997". 9 May 1997. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  2. Cowling, David (8 May 2001). "The landslide of 1997". BBC News. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  3. "It ain't over". The Economist. 8 May 1997. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  4. Black, Jeremy (2004). Britain Since the Seventies: Politics and Society in the Consumer Age. Reaktion Books. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-86189-201-0.
  5. "First Welsh MP for Tories for 12 years". Evening Standard. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  6. "General election results 1 May 1997". 9 May 1997. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
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