- This was Labour's biggest ever triumph and the greatest swing of votes since 1945.
- Three-quarters of the new House will be either Labour or Liberal Democrat MPs. The Conservatives now have the fewest votes and fewest seats since 1906.
- Tory casualties included six members of the Cabinet, 13 junior ministers and a host of senior backbenchers. Defence Secretary Michael Portillo, Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, Scottish Secretary Michael Forsyth have gone, along with Ian Lang, Tony Newton and William Waldegrave.
- Triumphant Tony Blair, the youngest Prime Minister since 1812, said: 'A new dawn has broken and it's wonderful. This is a new era of politics in Britain. We are the people's party.'
- John Major conceded defeat at his own Huntingdon count, saying: 'Politics is a rough old trade. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't . . . tonight we have been comprehensively beaten." He personally telephoned Mr Blair at 2.30am "to congratulate him and wish him every good fortune in the great responsibility he will have in the years that lie ahead'.
- Michael Portillo was stunned by defeat in Enfield Southgate, after a huge 17.5 per cent swing toppled the fifth safest Tory seat in Britain. He said: 'I am weeping for the Conservative Party.'
- Others ousted included Junior Home Office Minister Tom Sackville, London Transport Minister John Bowis, Treasury Secretary Jonathan Aitken, Foreign Office Minister Sir Nicholas Bonsor, Sports Minister Iain Sproat and David Mellor in Putney. Also in peril was Roger Freeman, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who was going through his third recount.
- London led the red wave with the largest swings in the country. Croydon North registered 19 per cent, Wimbledon 18 per cent. The Tories went into the election with 41 seats in London and ended it with fewer than a dozen.
- Liberal Democrats were heading for more than 45 seats, the biggest number since Lloyd George.
- Paddy Ashdown promised to help create a 'Parliament of historic reform' over the next five years.
- Total wipe-out in Scotland and Wales. For the first time in history there was not a single Conservative MP in either country.
- Anti-corruption candidate TV's Martin Bell crushed Neil Hamilton in Tatton by 11,000 votes. 'I knew The Force was with us,' he said. Hamilton 'devastated'.
- There was immediate speculation as to when Mr Major would indicate his resignation date. Both John Redwood and Michael Howard are clearly regarded as contenders but neither would comment. The scale of the defeat suggested Mr Major would have to go earlier than anticipated in July.
- Across the country there was strong evidence of tactical voting among voters of all persuasions who swallowed their natural political leanings to ensure the best-placed party ousted the Conservative candidate.
- The FTSE-100 index of leading shares in the City opened down 15.0 at 4430.0 at 8.30am.
- Lady Thatcher's old constituency Finchley and Golders Green went Labour with a massive 15 per cent swing.
- Former Chancellor Norman Lamont was ousted in Harrogate.
- A record number of women are heading for Westminster. Most of the 120 new female MPs are young, middle-class and Labour.
- Veteran Tory Sir Marcus Fox, Chairman of 1922 Committee, out.
- Basildon, the watershed of 1992 Tory victory, resoundingly rejected Mr Major. Labour with a 13,000 majority hailed its 'spectacular' result.
- One new conundrum for New Labour is where to put all their new MPs. There simply will not be enough room for the Government on the Government benches.
News Snips
Tory leadership contenders Kenneth Clarke and William Hague are engaged in a final scramble for voters ahead of tomorrow's decisive, final ballot.12 June 1997
Brown plans for the long term
LABOUR'S first Budget on July 2 will contain measures to require business and the City to take a longer-term view towards investment, plus action to bolster the new Government's commitment to sustained low inflation, Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, told the City last night.12 June 1997
A Labour MP accused of bribery has insisted he is "utterly confident" he will clear his name when party officials discuss a report on the affair next week.The three surviving candidates in the battle for the Tory succession are trying to win over the support of uncommitted MPs ahead of next week's second ballot.
11 June 1997
Howard and Lilley go for Hague
WILLIAM HAGUE rocketed to the front in the Conservative leadership race last night after Peter Lilley and Michael Howard, defeated badly in the first ballot of the party's MPs, pulled out and threw their weight behind him.Mr Hague came second in the vote, eight votes behind Kenneth Clarke, who had earlier received the overwhelming endorsement of the Tory grassroots. John Redwood stunned MPs and his rivals by coming third, ahead of Mr Lilley and Mr Howard.
10 June 1997
Doubts were hovering over the prospects for a European single currency after an Anglo-French alliance to put the spotlight on jobs and economic growth threatened to put the brakes on the project.The watchdog appointed to uphold standards among MPs has warned that Britain might be ready for a Parliament made up of professional politicians with no outside interests at all.
8 June 1997
MP acts as loophole allows paedophiles to go free
A GAP in the law that allows a convicted paedophile classed as a psychopath to be released, even though police fear there is a risk he will re-offend, must be plugged, MPs will be told tomorrow.Plan to jail bribe MPs is backed by Nolan
JACK Straw's plans to jail MPs who accept bribes for up to seven years were yesterday welcomed by the Nolan committee, created to investigate standards in public life.Cook rules out early EMU entry for Britain
ROBIN Cook, the Foreign Secretary, has virtually ruled out the possibility of Britain joining the European single currency in 1999 because the prospect of monetary union going ahead on time was increasingly unlikely.5 June 1997
Euro Jobs Action Plan
Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced an action plan for creating jobs across the Continent, declaring that it was time Britain took a lead in Europe.Ulster Secretary Mo Mowlam has welcomed a decision by the Orange Order to write to nationalist residents in an unprecedented bid to avoid a repeat of the Drumcree stand-off, which sparked last summer's marching season violence.
Runners and riders in the Tory leadership stakes
THIS is how the contenders for the Tory leadership line up:KENNETH CLARKE. Stephen Dorrell's baton-passing gives the former Chancellor another boost at a time when he was already clear favourite to top the first ballot next Tuesday. A beer-drinking Left-of-centre figure with pro-Brussels views and breezy honesty on wide range of issues. Colour of vest: deep pink. Price 8-11 fav.
WILLIAM HAGUE. Youngest contender at 36 and known affectionately as "the boy" by his backers. Thought to be John Major's choice until Mr Hague knifed him in a speech. Pulled out of a deal with Michael Howard at the start. Critics claim they know nothing of his real views. Colour of vest: blue and pink stripes. Price: 11-10.
MICHAEL HOWARD. Former Home Secretary was wounded by Commons attack from former deputy Ann Widdecombe. Stern anti-crime record. Skilled despatch box performer. Some claim unprepossessing manner and strange pronunciations would scare voters. Colour of vest: Dark blue. Price 6-1.
PETER LILLEY. Ex-Social Security Secretary with Gillian Shephard as running mate. Deep-thinker whose radical reforms of welfare system were backed by unusual sources. Colour of vest: Slightly paler blue than Howard. Odds 9-2.
JOHN REDWOOD. Former leadership challenger to John Major made much of his status as untainted by failures of Major regime. Support among hard-core Right-wingers but having difficulty branching out into mainstream. Colour of vest: Deep blue. Odds 10-1.
4 June 1997
Two terrorist organisations are to be outlawed as the British and Irish Governments urged immediate progress in the multi-party talks on Northern Ireland's future.Senior Tories have been meeting in private to form a united opposition to the Government's devolution proposals, former Prime Minister John Major revealed.
John Major underlined his decision to take a back seat in politics by declaring that his choice for the man to succeed him as party leader will remain a secret.
3 June 1997
Prime Minister Tony Blair received a boisterous reception from the "forgotten class" he has pledged to help get back to work. Tory leadership contender Kenneth Clarke has vowed to win back middle England for his party by tempering a commitment to free enterprise economics with a social conscience about the less well off.1 June 1997
Tony Blair's setting out his vision for welfare reform today.
The Prime Minister's expected to reveal plans to use lottery money to help pay for after school care for working mums.Blair apologises to Ireland for Potato Famine
TONY Blair has offered an implicit apology on behalf of the British government that "failed their people" in Ireland 150 years ago when the Potato Famine claimed a million lives and led to mass immigration.29 May 1997
Crisis over euro after Bundesbank blocks Kohl
THE future of the euro was in doubt last night after the Bundesbank refused to help the German government meet the criteria for membership of the new currency.Bill and Hillary Clinton are meeting the Blairs in a whirlwind trip to London later.
The American President will address the Cabinet at Downing Street.
28 May 1997
Loyalists warned over talks
THE political representatives of loyalist terrorist groups are facing expulsion from Northern Ireland's multi-party talks in the wake of a series of murders and bomb attacks in the Province and the Irish Republic.26 May 1997
Callaghan praises Blair for seeking Thatcher's advice
LORD Callaghan praised Tony Blair for taking advice from Lady Thatcher yesterday as the Prime Minister prepared to forge a new diplomatic role for Britain as a bridge between Europe and the United States.MPs urge Sarwar to quit the Commons
THE Labour MP at the centre of bribery allegations is facing growing pressure to step down from the Commons to prevent further embarassment to Tony Blair. Some colleagues at Westminster are urging Mohammad Sarwar to resign.23 May 1997
Homeless put back at top of housing lists
THE homeless will go back to the top of council house waiting lists, reversing Tory legislation, the Government said yesterday.Hilary Armstrong, the housing minister, said the right of homeless families and individuals to jump the queue for accommodation would be restored. Since last year, homelessness had not been considered in itself sufficient reason for receiving priority treatment.
Ms Armstrong told a conference organised by the charity Shelter that the Labour Government wanted to "restore hope to homeless people". She said: "The Government has consistently made clear its intention to restore a proper safety net for families and vulnerable individuals who are unintentionally homeless."
£10m to speed breast cancer treatment
AN extra £10 million is to be spent on speeding up the diagnosis and treatment of women suffering from breast cancer, Frank Dobson, Health Secretary, announced yesterday.22 May 1997
BLAIR Pledges NHS Cash Switch To Boost Cancer Treatment
Tony Blair and Health Secretary Frank Dobson have vowed to slash NHS management costs by £100 million this year - and redirected a £10 million tranche of funds into frontline cancer treatment.The Prime Minister announced the switch of funds from paperwork to speedier breast cancer treatments after visiting specialist cancer services at King's College Hospital in London.
Mr Dobson announced that £20 million would be saved by deferring the entry of up to 1,000 family doctors to a new wave of GP fundholding, and another £80 million by requiring NHS Trusts, health authorities and health boards to reduce their management costs.
Labour bans landmines from 2005
BRITAIN will destroy its stock of anti-personnel mines by 2005 and work more vigorously for a worldwide ban on a weapon system estimated to kill or maim someone every 20 minutes, it was announced yesterday.Blair to press for flexible job laws
TONY Blair will deliver a blunt message to Europe tomorrow that it must move towards more flexible labour markets.
Mowlam upbeat after Sinn Fein talks
THE first direct contact between Sinn Fein and Government officials for 15 months took place in Belfast yesterday but Mo Mowlam, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said she did not think it was possible for the republicans to join the negotiations on Ulster's future when they resume on June 3.Adams lays down his conditions
SINN Fein outlined the major concessions it required in return for an IRA ceasefire yesterday on the eve of a meeting between its negotiating team and Government officials in Belfast.'Help squads' for 18 worst schools
EIGHTEEN of the country's worst schools were named by the Government yesterday and given until September to show improvement.20 May 1997
Muslim MP says £5,000 was loan, not a bribe
THE Labour MP at the centre of bribery allegations could face disciplinary action by the party even if no criminal charges are brought against him.21 May 1997
Cook prepared to wreck EU treaty over border controls
ROBIN Cook, the Foreign Secretary, put the Government on collision course with Europe last night by demanding that Britain must retain its own control over policy on border controls, asylum and immigration.Labour MP in election bribe probe
LABOUR last night launched an urgent investigation into allegations that one of its MPs had offered bribes to a rival candidate in order to win a seat during the general election.
Labour's changes to NHS will take years
LABOUR is likely to take years to fulfil its manifesto promise to dismantle the way the NHS is run, Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary, indicated yesterday.
Mary Allen, Arts Council chief, in Cannes with the producer Duncan Kenworthy after three film companies were awarded £92 million of lottery cash
Prescott pulls the plug on water meters
JOHN Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, announced the Government's opposition to compulsory water metering yesterday, causing confusion among supply companies which are already imposing meters on millions of new homes and houses with swimming pools and garden sprinklers.20 May 1997
Windfall tax faces legal challenge
TONY BLAIR and Gordon Brown faced their first big confrontation with industry last night after a threat from British Telecom and other privatised companies to derail the windfall tax.Sir Iain Vallance, chairman of BT, which seems certain to fall within the scope of the tax, announced that he would challenge in the courts any move to snatch its profits. His stance was backed by another potential target, BAA, formerly the British Airports Authority.
At least five other companies suggested that they might also support the moves
2.4% inflation low takes the City by surprise
INFLATION today fell to its lowest in three years as the strong pound made imports cheaper. The retail price index was rising by 2.4 per cent a year in April, down from 2.6 per cent a month earlier. The size of the fall took City economists by surprise.The RPIX measure of core inflation excluding mortgages, closely watched by economists, fell from 2.7 per cent a month ago to hit the Government's target of 2.5 per cent for the first time since November 1994. Motorists came out on top in the latest survey as the costs of vehicles, oil and petrol fell. Leisure and household goods also dropped in price but food and household services grew dearer.
19 May 1997
Blair warns of welfare curbs
A FUNDAMENTAL review of the welfare state was at the heart of an ,'ambitious but practical' programme announced by Tony Blair as he unveiled the Queen's Speech
AT-A-GLANCE GUIDE TO THE MAIN NEW BILLS
Education Bill to raise standards in schools.Reform of the Health Service, ending the "internal market".
Crime Bill to target young offenders and nuisance neighbours.
Referendums in Scotland and Wales for an elected parliament and assembly.
London referendum for an elected mayor.
Finance Bill, using the £3.billion from the windfall tax to create jobs for young people.
Tony Blair's unveild his programme for a new Britain in the Queen's Speech - the first by a Labour P-M for 18 years.
But Tory leadership frontrunner William Hague says his party will oppose much of the proposed legisation.
Bank pushes for more rises in interest rates
THE Bank of England took swift advantage of its new decision-making powers to signal its desire to see interest rates rise in the months ahead and to argue against those who believe that the strong pound has removed the need for policy action.The Bank of England's calling for another rise in interest rates, just a week after the cost of borrowing increased by quarter of a percent.
In its quarterly report, the Bank says it's unlikely the Government's inflation target of 2 and a half percent will be met in 2 years time.
The Education Secretary's calling for a return to traditional teaching methods.
Education Secretary David Blunkett says he wants a return to the three R's in Britain's primary schools.His plans include banning youngsters under the age of eight from using calculators.
18 May 1997
Blair gives councils huge cash boost for housing
TONY BLAIR today promised to kick-start a huge £5 billion public housing programme by freeing town halls from the tough rules which ban them from spending their own cash.Downing Street made clear that a Bill to let local authorities get their hands on the funds built up from years of council house sales would be a top priority. The move, expected to be Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's first big Government initiative, will feature among the first few Bills published after Wednesday's Queen's Speech.
Under Tory laws, town halls could not use the billions they made from selling off council homes amid fears they would slip into further debt to make up any shortfall.
However, Labour have long pledged to ease the restrictions. The move would release, over time, around £5 billion earmarked for the biggest public home-building programme since the Sixties.
Howard is not fit to lead, says ex-minister
MICHAEL Howard's campaign to lead the Conservative Party was plunged into crisis last night after one of his former ministers accused him of misleading the House of Commons.Major anger as Blair changes Questions
TONY BLAIR today acted to end the twice weekly "circus" of Prime Minister's Questions - and promptly ran into his first clash with Opposition leader John Major.The Prime Minister rang Mr Major and Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown to tell them the familiar 15-minute contests on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be replaced by a single half-hour session on Wednesdays. Downing Street said the change reflected Mr Blair's belief that "the public were fed up with relentless, endless slanging" and that a 30-minute slot would give backbenchers more chance to put probing questions. Mr Major, however, complained that the change was being steamrollered through the Commons and protested at the cut.
British Parliament changes cast, keeps director
Former showgirl Betty Boothroyd was chosen
by a radically changed British Parliament on Thursday to be its
mistress of ceremonies, but admitted she would have trouble
identifying most of the cast.
Boothroyd's re-election as speaker came in the first sitting of the House of Commons since the sensational May 1 election when Tony Blair's Labour Party stormed into power with an overall majority of 179.
'We are the servants now'
TONY BLAIR today welcomed his massed troops to the centre of Government and of power, telling them they must always remember that "we are not the masters". In a deeply serious speech to a packed audience of more than 400 Labour MPs, the Prime Minister went on: "The people are the masters. We are the servants of the people. "We will never forget that and, if we ever do, the people will very soon show that what the electorate gives, the electorate can take away." Mr Blair's message, in his first set-piece speech since victory, was a deliberate reverse of the triumphant and eventually infamous claim: We are the masters now. That came from an incoming minister, Hartley Shawcross, after Labour's historic landslide of 1945. Instead, deliberately avoiding any note of triumph, Mr Blair promised to run "a can-do Government". Its hallmark, he declared, would be putting Britain first, and its aim would be to operate in a way that was "tough, clear, determined for the long term".14 May 1997
Labour woos Europe with friendly talk
THE new Government yesterday launched a charm offensive towards the European Union, promising afresh start to its partners in Brussels but warning them that Britain would not cede control of its frontiers or the national veto in key areas.Douglas Henderson, the Minister for Europe, brought Tony Blair's goodwill message to a Brussels treaty negotiation. He also formally outlined Britain's intention to sign the social chapter and implement it within weeks
Blair and Cook in clash over role for BP chairman
ROBIN Cook, the Foreign Secretary, was reported to be
enraged yesterday by a secret Tony Blair plan - subsequently abandoned - to appoint British business's leading advocate of
a single currency as minister for Europe.
5 May 1997
It's time for action, says Blair
TONY BLAIR hailed a new dawn yesterday as he strode into Downing Street and promised to unite the nation.The youngest Prime Minister this century was mobbed by an enthusiastic crowd as he and his young family made their way to the country's most famous address. Pledging to run a new Labour Government based on compassion and decency, he then went inside to begin the work of state and form his Cabinet.
Blair in first move to sign Social Chapter
TONY Blair took the first step towards signing the European Social Chapter last night, bringing to an end Britain's six-year opt-out from EU employment rules under the Conservatives.Contest gathers pace as new hat thrown into ring
THE battle for the Tory leadership gathered pace over the weekend with a second former Cabinet minister, Peter Lilley, confirming that he will stand.Women are roaring into British government
Tony Blair began governing on Sunday. So did more than 100 women.
Labour's landslide victory last week not only ushered in a party all but marginalized for two decades, it also revamped Britain's
political gender map.
A record 685 women were among the 3,718 candidates in Thursday's election. Labour fielded a record 158 female candidates, and its landslide victory catapulted 102 into the House of Commons. The Conservatives will have only 13 female lawmakers. The five remaining female lawmakers are from other parties. There are 659 seats in parliament.
'Thankfully,' Blair quipped, 'most of the women I know support me.'
He has appointed five women to his Cabinet - Majorie Mowlam as Northern Ireland Secretary; Clare Short, who will be Internal Development secretary; Harriett Harman, set to run the nation's Social Security administration; and Margaret Beckett, secretary of state for trade and industry. Ann Taylor is House of Commons majority leader.
If the advent of women into British government seemed largely ignored by the media obsessed by the Conservative Party's electoral annihilation, blame it partly on one woman: former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
'Margaret Thatcher was womankind, a species unto herself, for well over a decade,' Scottish essayist David Franke says. 'There could never be a 'women's' debate because she pre-empted it.'
Thatcher herself had long kept aspiring female politicians at arm's length and encouraged her successor, John Major, to do the same. Indeed, Thatcher wasted little time warning Blair that she would confront him if he strayed from her policies.
Yet for the first time in a decade, much of what Thatcher said after an election seemed irrelevant. 'An 18-year experiment with the nature of the Britain and the British people was obliterated,' wrote the left-leaning The Guardian.
Of women, Sarah Baxter wrote in The Sunday Times: 'Quietly, efficiently, Labour women are enjoying their own landslide victory. . . . The regiment of women will bring color to the (House of) Commons.'
Perhaps the Blair team's most important women are not even in the Cabinet. They are even closer to him. Anji Hunter, the prime minister's longtime political confidant, is expected to act as his appointments secretary.
Then there is Cherie Booth Blair, a top lawyer who earns $400,000 a year, three times more than her husband. She was the architect of her husband's early success and is a Labourite through and through.
She was defeated for a parliamentary seat in 1983, when her husband was elected. Word is the two made a pact soon after marrying in 1980: Whoever got into Parliament first would be the politician with the big ambitions, the other the lawyer with the high earnings.
Now that her husband is prime minister, the 42-year-old mother of three intends to keep her job as a Queen's Counsel specializing in employment law.
As Blair and Labour officials celebrated, The Sunday Times was quick to warn the winners against complacency.
'Nothing can be taken for granted,' the influential newspaper said in an editorial. 'Clement Atlee's majority of 146 (seats) in 1945 was seemingly unassailable, but he and Labour slunk exhausted from office just six years later.' Atlee's victory was all the more improbable because the man he routed as World War II ended was Winston Churchill.
Still, the British people appeared to agree that Labour's mandate represented an extraordinary occurrence.
'The greatest piece of conventional wisdom to be shattered was that the Tories represented the Rolls-Royce of election fighting machines and therefore the natural party of government,' said Plymouth University election analysts Michael Thrasher and Colin Rallings. The representative of the 'natural party of government,' Major, was given 24 hours to vacate 10 Downing Street with his wife, Norma.
Incoming Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told the BBC: 'Quite frankly, it may be a bumpy ride, but I'm looking forward to it.' But voters were in no mood to wait. Ivor Denvor sent the following letter to The Guardian: 'Today my bus for work was 20 minutes late. Bloody Labour government.'
(c) Associated Newspapers 1997
