18 named examples with their significance, drawn from the Panther database. Read them, then test yourself.
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The examples
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.
1997 General Election: New Labour Landslide and Media Support(1997)(tap to reveal)- Labour won 418 seats, Conservatives 165. Blair's Five Pledges included cutting NHS waiting lists and reducing class sizes. The Sun endorsed Labour for the first time since the 1970s. Blair had carefully cultivated Rupert Murdoch's support.
2010 Leaders' Debates: Nick Clegg and Liberal Democrat Poll Surge(2010)(tap to reveal)- First leaders' debates in UK election history (sitting PMs had always previously refused). Clegg gained significantly in polls immediately after first debate. Lib Dems won 23% of vote but only 57 seats due to FPTP. Led to Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government 2010-15.
2017 General Election: The 'Youthquake', Corbyn's Campaign and Theresa May's Failures(2017)(tap to reveal)- Conservatives won 317 seats (down from 331), Labour won 262 (up from 232). May started with 20+ point lead in polls. Corbyn held mass rallies and the Labour manifesto gained strong social media traction. Labour made largest gains in vote share since 1945.
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.
AI Deepfakes in UK Politics: Sadiq Khan and Keir Starmer Audio Hoaxes (2023-24)(2023-24)(tap to reveal)- In October 2023 a fake AI-generated audio clip purporting to show Keir Starmer verbally abusing staff was posted on X on the opening day of Labour conference and viewed over 1.4 million times. In November 2023 a deepfake of Sadiq Khan disparaging Remembrance weekend was used by far-right accounts to inflame tensions ahead of a pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day; Khan said it nearly caused "serious disorder". The Met investigated but concluded the Khan deepfake was not a criminal offence under existing law.
Blair's 1997 Landslide: 418 Seats, 10.3% Swing and the Sun's Endorsement Switch(1997)(tap to reveal)- On 1 May 1997 Labour won 418 seats (a 145-seat gain) on 43.2% of the vote, producing a 179-seat majority - the largest since 1935 - on a 10.3% national swing, the biggest postwar swing. The Conservatives fell to 165 seats on 30.7%, their worst result since 1906 until 2024 broke it. Lib Dems won 46 seats on 16.8%. Turnout was 71.4%. The Sun switched endorsement from Conservative to Labour ten days before polling day with the headline 'The Sun Backs Blair'. Combined Lab+Con vote share was 73.9% - high two-party concentration.
GB News and Opinion Broadcasting (2021-present)(2021)(tap to reveal)- Over 1 million daily viewers in 2025 (higher than Sky News and BBC News). Multiple Ofcom sanctions for impartiality breaches. Associated with right-leaning commentary and has hosted and promoted Reform UK figures.
Momentum and Labour's 2017 Social Media Campaign(2017)(tap to reveal)- Momentum produced digital content that gained millions of views without mainstream media backing. Labour outspent Conservatives on Facebook advertising in some areas. OfCom 2025 found 80% of 16-24s used online sources for news, 75% specifically social media.
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.
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.
YouGov Polling on Reform UK: Class, Gender, Age and Regional Splits (2025-26)(2025)(tap to reveal)- YouGov polling (2025-26): Reform polling 27% among men vs 21% among women. Reform polling 37% among DE social grade (lowest earners) vs 14% among AB (professional). Reform polling 18% in Scotland and 29% in Wales despite being associated with English nationalism - partly explained by large English-origin populations in both, particularly lowland Wales. Reform 6% among 18-25 year olds vs 33% among over-65s. Greens: 43% of 18-25 year olds vs 4% of over-65s - mirror image of Reform's age profile. Reform has led national opinion polls since early 2025.
2016 EU Referendum: Direct Democracy, Voter Knowledge and Age/Education Cleavages(2016)(tap to reveal)- On 23 June 2016 the UK voted 51.9% Leave to 48.1% Remain on a 72.2% turnout - the highest UK-wide turnout since the 1992 general election. The age cleavage was sharp: Ashcroft polling found 71% of 18-24s voted Remain and 64% of over-65s voted Leave. Graduates broke 57% Remain; voters with no formal qualifications broke 72% Leave. Scotland (62%) and Northern Ireland (56%) voted Remain; Wales (52.5%) and England outside London voted Leave. Cameron resigned the following morning.
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 - FPTP disproportionality (Labour 33.7% = 411 seats)(tap to reveal)- MERGED INTO EX-006 on 2026-05-20. Content (Labour 33.7% / 411 seats / majority 174; D'Hondt counterfactual) now lives in EX-006's ao1_long and ao2_long. Status set to Draft so this record no longer surfaces in the Twenty Key Examples Workshop pool or other example-listing surfaces, while remaining in the database for audit.
Caroline Lucas: First Green MP (Brighton Pavilion, 2010)(2010)(tap to reveal)- Lucas won Brighton Pavilion 2010 - first Green MP. She served as leader of the Greens 2008-12. Greens won 4 seats in 2024 on 6.7% of vote. Recent polling suggests Greens may be approaching 12-18% nationally.
FPTP Disproportionality: 2024 General Election(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.
In the 2024 general election, Reform UK won 14.3% of the vote but only 5 seats. The Liberal Democrats won 12.2% but took 72 seats. Labour won 33.7% of votes and 412 seats. The starkest recent example of FPTP disproportionality.