On This Day

11 June 1987

Polling day in the 1987 general election

Margaret Thatcher wins her third consecutive election for the Conservatives with a majority of 102. The Liberal/SDP Alliance returns 22 MPs on 22.6% of the vote. The election was a major disappointment for both Alliance parties. The joint leadership of David Owen and David Steel was not effective and the Alliance was parodied by the Tories as a clapped out car being driven by two people one trying to turn right and one left. Both parties lost a number of senior figures including Roy Jenkins, Clement Freud and Ian Wrigglesworth. Two Liberal MPs stood down – Richard Wainwright (Colne Valley) and Stephen Ross (Isle of Wight) and the party failed to hold both seats. The losses were mitigated by three Liberal gains from the Conservatives – Ray Michie (Argyll and Bute), Menzies Campbell (NE Fife) and Ronnie Fearn (Southport).