1983 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 9 June 1983 and all 72 seats in Scotland were contested.[1]

1983 United Kingdom general election

← 1979 9 June 1983 1987 →

All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
Turnout72.7%, Decrease4.14%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Michael Foot Margaret Thatcher
Party Labour Conservative Alliance
Leader since 10 November 1980 11 February 1975
Last election 44 seats, 41.5% 22 seats, 31.4% 3 seats, 9.0%
Seats won 41 21 8
Seat change Decrease3 Decrease1 Increase5
Popular vote 990,654 801,487 692,634
Percentage 35.1% 28.4% 24.5%
Swing Decrease6.5% Decrease3.0% Increase15.5%

  Fourth party
 
Leader Gordon Wilson
Party SNP
Leader since 15 September 1979
Last election 2 seats, 17.3%
Seats won 2
Seat change Steady
Popular vote 331,975
Percentage 11.8%
Swing Decrease5.5%

Results of the 1983 election in Scotland

The Labour Party won 41 seats, with the Conservative Party winning 21, the SDP–Liberal Alliance winning eight and the Scottish National Party winning two.[2][3]

Results

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Party Seats Seats
change
Votes % %
change
Labour 41  3 990,654 35.1  6.5
Conservative 21  1 801,487 28.4  3.0
Alliance 8  5 692,634 24.5  15.5
SNP 2   331,975 11.8  5.5
Other 0   7,830 0.3  0.2
Turnout: 2,824,580 72.7
Popular vote
Labour
35.1%
Conservative
28.4%
Alliance
24.5%
SNP
11.8%
Other
0.3%
Parliament seats
Labour
56.94%
Conservative
29.16%
Alliance
11.11%
SNP
2.77%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Commons results report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 November 2020.
  2. ^ Macwhirter, Iain (2014). Road to Referendum: The Essential Guide to the Scottish Referendum. Cargo Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908885-95-1.
  3. ^ Letters (16 December 2021). "Scottish votes haven't influenced an English election result in 40 years". The National. Retrieved 2 January 2021. In 1983, Margaret Thatcher won 387 seats out of 650, a majority of 144. Labour secured 41 of the 72 seats in Scotland, the Tories 21, the SDP-Liberal Alliance 8 and the SNP 2. Obviously Scotland's 72 seats would not have influenced the outcome either way.