1983 United Kingdom general election in Wales

The 1983 United Kingdom general election in Wales took place on 9 June 1983 for all 38 Welsh seats to the House of Commons. The Labour Party again won a majority of Welsh MPs, but the party's vote share declined by 9.4% and they lost three seats. In this election popular vote and percentage gap produced between Labour and Conservative parties will be the smallest one up until 2019 UK general election.

1983 United Kingdom general election in Wales

9 June 1983
All 38 Welsh seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party   Leader Michael Foot Margaret Thatcher Party Labour Conservative Leader since 10 November 1980 11 February 1975 Last election 21 seats, 46.9% 11 seats, 32.2% Seats before 23 12 Seats won 20 14 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 603,858 499,310 Percentage 37.5% 31.0% Swing 9.4% 1.2%   Third party Fourth party   Leader David Steel (Lib) Roy Jenkins (SDP) Dafydd Wigley Party Alliance Plaid Cymru Leader since July 1976/July 1982 1981 Last election 1 seats, 10.6% 2 seats, 8.0% Seats before 1 2 Seats won 2 2 Seat change 1 Popular vote 373,358 125,309 Percentage 23.2% 7.8% Swing 12.6% 0.2%

Main article: 1983 United Kingdom general election

Despite the Labour party winning the most votes in Wales, the Conservatives won the general election.

The governing Conservatives made a net gain of two seats, with the SDP–Liberal Alliance gaining one. Across the UK the Conservatives won a landslide majority and continued in office for a second term.

Results

Below is a table summarising the results of the 1983 general election in Wales.

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	20	0	3	3	52.6	603,858	37.5	9.4
	Conservative	14	3	1	2	36.8	499,310	31.0	1.2
	Alliance	2	1	0	1	5.3	373,358	23.2	12.6
	Plaid Cymru	2	0	0		5.3	125,309	7.8	0.2
	Other parties	0	0	0		—	7,151	0.4	1.9

Popular vote Labour   37.5% Conservative   31.0% SDP–Liberal Alliance   23.2% Plaid Cymru   7.8% Other   0.4%

Parliament seats Labour   52.6% Conservative   36.8% SDP–Liberal Alliance   5.3% Plaid Cymru   5.3%

MPs elected

Main article: List of MPs for constituencies in Wales (1983–1987)

Background and aftermath

Thatcher was a controversial figure in Wales. In 1983 Thatcher launched the election campaign at a rally in Cardiff attempting to appeal to Labour voters. She led the Conservative Party to its best general election result in Wales with 14 seats.

In 1985 Thatcher began her coal mine closing programme. She closed multiple mines in South Wales including; Aberpergwm, Abertillery, Bedwas, Garw, Margam, Penrhiwceiber, St Johns and Treforgan. In 1986 Thatcher also closed Bersham, Cwm and Nantgarw coal mines.

In response to the closures, one Welsh union worker said: "Thatcher killed, killed this town… we were always tainted with that brush of, of what Thatcher did to us to be quite honest." The closures led to decades of unemployment, under-employment, ill health, increased crime, increased drug use and a lack of hope in the Welsh valleys. Many parts of the valleys are still yet to fully recover from these effects.