Four elections (1979, 1983, 2019, 2024) - examples

18 named examples with their significance, drawn from the Panther database. Read them, then test yourself.

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The examples

Liberal/SDP Alliance 1983: 25% Vote, 23 Seats - FPTP Disproportionality (1983) (tap to reveal) - Alliance won 25.4% of vote and 23 seats. Labour won 27.6% and 209 seats. Conservatives won 42.4% and 397 seats. SDP formed in 1981 as breakaway from Labour ('Gang of Four'). Merged with Liberal Party to form Lib Dems in 1988.
Recall of MPs Act 2015 (Onasanya 2019, Davies 2019, Ferrier 2023): The Limits of Constituency Recall (2015) (tap to reveal) - The Recall of MPs Act 2015 lets voters trigger a by-election if 10% of constituents sign a petition after their MP is (a) convicted of a criminal offence with a custodial sentence of up to 12 months, (b) suspended from the Commons for 10+ sitting days, or (c) convicted of making false expenses claims. Three successful recalls so far: Fiona Onasanya (2019, perverting the course of justice), Chris Davies (2019, false expenses), and Margaret Ferrier (2023, Covid breach). Three MPs resigned before their petition closed to avoid removal: Owen Paterson (2021), Peter Bone (2023, after sexual misconduct suspension), Chris Pincher (2023, drinking and groping suspension), and Scott Benton (2024, cash-for-questions sting). Recall has not been used for policy or manifesto breach.
The Red Wall: Generational Shift and Post-2024 Trajectory (2019) (tap to reveal) - Red Wall seats had voted Labour in every general election since 1945 in many cases. In 2019, dozens switched to Conservative - 'Get Brexit Done' was the dominant issue. In 2024, many returned to Labour (with low Conservative vote shares) but frequently with increased Reform vote - not solid Labour returns but three-way contests. Current YouGov polling (2025-26) shows Reform polling at or above Labour in many Red Wall areas among C2DE voters and men. Reform is polling 37% among DE social grade nationally. Seats like Doncaster, Hartlepool, and Wigan exemplify the trajectory.
2019 Northern Ireland Local Elections: Alphabetical 'Donkey Voting' Under STV - 85% Effect (2019) (tap to reveal) - In 2019 Northern Ireland local elections using the Single Transferable Vote, in District Electoral Areas where two candidates from the same party were standing, the candidate whose surname came first alphabetically was elected 85% of the time, while the second-listed candidate was elected only 54% of the time. This 'donkey voting' effect - where voters rank candidates in ballot-paper order without differentiating between them - is a recognised problem with multi-candidate STV ballots. It means electoral outcomes can be influenced by accident of surname rather than genuine voter preference between co-partisan candidates.
2024 General Election: Labour Landslide, Reform Surge and Blue Wall Collapse (2024) (tap to reveal) - Labour 412 seats / 33.7% vote (174-seat majority - the largest since 1997 on the lowest winning vote share in modern UK history). Conservatives 121 / 23.7% - their worst result since 1906. Reform UK 14.3% / 5 seats; Lib Dems 12.2% / 72 seats; Greens 4 seats (best ever). Turnout 59.7% (lowest since 2001). Sunak called the election early in May 2024 and left D-Day commemorations early; Gaza-related independents won several Labour-held seats.
Conservative Party Membership Collapse: 2.8 Million (1953) to 180,000 (2019) (2019) (tap to reveal) - Conservative Party membership peaked at approximately 2.8 million in 1953. By 2003 it had fallen to 248,000. By 2019, membership was estimated at 180,000. Labour followed a similar path - from around 1 million in 1953 to 215,000 in 2003 - though Corbyn's leadership sparked a surge to 485,000 by 2019, making Labour briefly the largest party by membership in Europe. Trade union membership mirrored this: 13.2 million in 1979 falling to 6.23 million by 2016. The contrast with SNP, Green Party, and Labour Corbyn-era growth shows membership can revive around specific movements or leaders.
Green Party 2024 Breakthrough: Four MPs Elected Under FPTP (2024) (tap to reveal) - The Greens won four seats at the 2024 general election, quadrupling their Commons representation from one to four, on a vote share of 6.7 percent.
Green Party 2024: First Four MPs Including Co-Leaders (2024) (tap to reveal) - The Green Party of England and Wales won four seats in 2024 - Brighton Pavilion (Sian Berry), Bristol Central (Carla Denyer), Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay), and North Herefordshire (Ellie Chowns) - quadrupling their parliamentary presence.
Labour Landslide and Reform Surge: Electoral Volatility (2024) (2024) (tap to reveal) - ARCHIVED on 2026-05-20: consolidated into EX-006 to leave only one 2024 GE example in the Twenty Key Examples Workshop. Original content preserved below. Use to challenge the view that FPTP sustains a stable two-party system. The simultaneous collapse of Conservative support (from 43.6% to 23.7%), Labour's landslide on a historically low vote share, and Reform's near-breakthrough all show electoral volatility increasing rather than stabilising. For AO3: compare with 2019 (Conservatives 43.6%) to show the speed of dealignment. Examiner reports consistently note that candidates who use recent statistical evidence score higher on AO1; this example combines strong statistics with analytical complexity. Also useful for questions on whether FPTP is still fit for purpose.
Liberal Democrat European Election Surge 2019: 19.6% Vote Share (2019) (tap to reveal) - In the May 2019 European Parliament elections, the Liberal Democrats won 19.6% of the vote (16 MEPs), beating Labour and second only to the Brexit Party, on a 'Bollocks to Brexit' campaign.
Liberal Democrat Recovery 2017-2024: From 8 Seats to 72 (2024) (tap to reveal) - The Liberal Democrats recovered from a low of 8 seats in 2015 to 72 seats in 2024, primarily through Brexit-era by-election wins (Chesham and Amersham 2021, North Shropshire 2021, Tiverton and Honiton 2022) and 2024 Blue Wall targeting.
Party Facebook Advertising Spend 2019 General Election: Labour £1.4m, Tories £900k (2019) (tap to reveal) - Data from WhoTargetsMe (a browser extension tracking political ads) in the 2019 general election showed Labour spent over £1.4 million on Facebook advertising, while both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats spent approximately £900,000 each. Targeted social media advertising allows parties to show different messages to different voter profiles based on age, location, and interests - techniques impossible with traditional broadcast advertising. The Conservatives' 2019 Facebook ads were widely criticised for misleading content; a Channel 4 analysis found 88% of Conservative Facebook ads contained misleading statistics.
SNP Decline 2024: From 48 Seats to 9 (2024) (tap to reveal) - The SNP collapsed from 48 Westminster seats (2019) to just 9 in 2024 - their worst result since 2010 - allowing Scottish Labour to win 37 seats and ending SNP Westminster dominance.
Saatchi & Saatchi: Professional Marketing Enters UK Elections (1979) (1979) (tap to reveal) - Saatchi & Saatchi created the 'Labour Isn't Working' poster in 1978, used to attack Labour on unemployment. Thatcher's team used modern campaign management and image marketing for the first time in a UK general election. The Conservatives spent heavily on professional political advertising.
Voter ID Act 2023 in Practice: 2024 General Election Effects (2024) (tap to reveal) - The 2024 general election was the first under the Voter ID requirements introduced by the Elections Act 2022. Approximately 16,000 voters were turned away across the UK; 30,000+ at the May 2023 local elections.
Workers Party of Britain: George Galloway Wins Rochdale 2024 By-Election (2024) (tap to reveal) - George Galloway won the February 2024 Rochdale by-election for his Workers Party of Britain on 39.7%, taking what had been a safe Labour seat - on a Gaza-focused campaign. He lost the seat in the July 2024 general election to Labour.
1979 General Election: Thatcher Victory and the End of the Post-War Consensus (1979) (tap to reveal) - Conservatives won 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats; Labour won 36.9%. First election to use professional marketing by Saatchi & Saatchi. Thatcher was personally less popular than Callaghan in polls but won on economic competence.
1992 General Election: Black Wednesday and Media Influence (1992) (tap to reveal) - Conservatives won 41.9% of the vote in 1992. Black Wednesday occurred September 1992. Polls before the election showed Labour ahead. Major adopted a soap-box campaign style as contrast to Labour's slicker approach.