1979 United Kingdom general election

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A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the House of Commons (MPs). The election was held following the defeat of the Labour government in a no-confidence motion on 28 March 1979, six months before the Parliament was due for dissolution in October 1979. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, ousted the incumbent Labour government of Prime Minister James Callaghan, gaining a parliamentary majority of 43 seats. Thatcher thus became the United Kingdom's and Europe's first elected female head of government. 1979 was the first of four consecutive election victories for the Conservative Party, beginning 18 years in government for the Conservatives and 18 years in opposition for Labour. Unusually, the date chosen coincided with the 1979 local elections, where Labour recovered some lost councils. The parish council elections were pushed back a few weeks. The previous parliamentary term had begun in October 1974, when Harold Wilson...

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