34-464: Baroness Taylor may refer to: Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton (born 1947), Labour Party politician and Cabinet minister Sharon Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (born 1956), Labour Party politician and county councillor See also [ edit ] Lord Taylor (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
68-546: A calculation of how the 1979 general election would have gone if fought on the new 1983 boundaries. The following table shows the effects of the boundary changes on the House of Commons: The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Buckingham Palace on the afternoon of 9 May and asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament on 13 May, announcing that the election would be held on 9 June. The key dates were as follows: The election saw
102-502: A backbencher, Taylor served as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee from 2001 to 2005. Her appointment to this post was criticised by opposition Liberal Democrats. She also sponsored a Private Member's Bill, the 'Succession to the Crown (no 2)' Bill, which sought to eliminate gender and religious discrimination in the royal succession. On 13 May 2005 it was announced that Taylor
136-513: A heightened role on television for the last 10 days of the election campaign. According to Steve Richards the meeting meant Jenkins' "confidence was undermined and he staggered to the finishing line with less verve than he had displayed in the early days of the SDP" and showed little sign of his earlier "exuberance". Following boundary changes in 1983, the BBC and ITN ( Independent Television News ) co-produced
170-658: A majority of 903. During her first term in Parliament, she served in the Callaghan government as an assistant whip from 1977 to 1979. Notably the first female whip in the UK Parliament , she was later depicted in the 2012 play This House . Re-elected at the 1979 general election with a reduced majority of 600 votes, she unsuccessfully contested the new Bolton North East seat in 1983 , defeated by Conservative Peter Thurnham . Taylor returned to Parliament upon her election to
204-465: A national swing of almost 4% towards the Conservatives and their larger parliamentary majority of 144 seats, even though the Conservatives' total vote fell by almost 700,000. This was the last general election until 2015 in which a governing party increased its number of seats. The Alliance finished in third place but came within 700,000 votes of out-polling Labour; by gaining 25.4% of the vote it won
238-472: A poor third, which stalled the momentum of the Alliance. During the campaign, on Sunday 29 May, David Steel held a meeting with Jenkins and other Alliance leaders at his Ettrickbridge home. Steel, who polls showed was more popular proposed that Jenkins take a lower profile and that Steel take over as leader of the campaign. Jenkins rejected Steel's view and remained "Prime Minister designate", but Steel did have
272-481: A seat at the next general election in 1987. Michael Foot was elected leader of the Labour Party at the end of 1980, replacing James Callaghan . The election of Foot signalled that the core of the party was swinging to the left and the move exacerbated divisions within the party. During 1981, a group of senior figures including Roy Jenkins , David Owen , Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams left Labour to found
306-671: Is a British politician and life peer who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Labour Party , she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1974 to 1983, and Dewsbury from 1987 to 2005. Winifred Ann Taylor was born on 2 July 1947 in London , England . Her mother was born in Lancashire and her grandfather hailed from Motherwell , Scotland , serving as chairman of local Labour Party . Taylor
340-638: The Dewsbury constituency at the 1987 general election , representing the seat until her retirement in 2005 . When she returned to the House of Commons in 1987, Taylor became a shadow minister under Labour leader Neil Kinnock ; covering education and science from 1979 to 1981 and the environment from 1981 to 1992. She then served in the Shadow Cabinets of John Smith and Tony Blair as Shadow Secretary of State for Education from 1992 to 1994, Shadow Chancellor of
374-745: The Social Democratic Party (SDP). The SDP agreed to a pact with the Liberals for the 1983 election and stood as " The Alliance ". For a while the Alliance topped the opinion polls and looked capable of achieving their goal of forming a coalition government at the next general election, but the success of the Falklands campaign in 1982 saw the political tide turn in favour of the Conservative government. The election did not have to be held until 1984. Although political circumstances were clearly favourable for
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#1732852153710408-489: The " Gang of Four ") also failed to win his old seat that he previously held as a Labour MP. In Scotland, both Labour and the Conservatives sustained modest losses to the Alliance. Labour remained by far the largest party, with 41 seats to 21 for the Scottish Conservatives . The Scottish Conservatives have been unable to match their 1983 Westminster seat total since, although they did record a slightly larger share of
442-482: The Alliance got fewer than 4% of seats, 186 fewer than Labour. The most significant Labour loss of the night was Tony Benn , who was defeated in the revived Bristol East seat. SDP President Shirley Williams , then a prominent leader in the Social Democratic Party, lost her Crosby seat which she had won in a by-election in 1981 . Bill Rodgers , another leading figure in the Alliance (like Williams, one of
476-517: The Alliance's Shirley Williams and Bill Pitt lost their seats only a short time after having won them. Joan Lestor and Tony Benn as well as former Liberal leader Jo Grimond and Speaker of the House of Commons and former Labour Cabinet Minister George Thomas also departed from Parliament at this election, although Benn would return after winning a by-election in Chesterfield the following year, and Lestor returned to Parliament after winning
510-406: The Conservatives win a landslide victory , improving on their 1979 result and achieving their best results since 1935 . Although there was a slight drop in their share of the vote, they made significant gains at the expense of Labour. The Tories have yet to match their 1983 seat total in any subsequent general election, although they recorded a higher share of the popular vote in 2019 . The night
544-575: The Duchy of Lancaster from 1994 to 1995 and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons from 1994 to 1997. In the first Blair ministry , Taylor became the first woman to serve as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council in 1997. After a 1998 cabinet reshuffle, she went on to become the first woman to serve as Government Chief Whip ( Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury ). As
578-506: The Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown and Charles Kennedy , were first elected. Michael Howard , who later served the Conservatives as Home Secretary in government and as party leader from 2003 to 2005, was also first elected to Parliament in 1983. At the same time, a number of prominent Members of Parliament stepped aside or lost their seats. Former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson stood down from Parliament after 38 years, while
612-654: The Scottish vote in 2017 , by which time the Scottish National Party had become the dominant party in Scotland with the Conservatives being the largest unionist party, with 13 seats won in 2017; their strongest performance in Scotland in 34 years. On a nationwide basis, the 1983 UK general election was the worst result in Labour's modern history until the 2019 general election , in terms of seats won. The result in 1983 remains
646-603: The economy went through a recession . However, the British victory in the Falklands War led to a recovery of her personal popularity, and economic growth had begun to resume. By the time Thatcher called the election in May 1983, opinion polls pointed to a Conservative victory, with most national newspapers backing the re-election of the Conservative government. The resulting win earned the Conservatives their biggest parliamentary majority of
680-608: The government and opposition parties anticipated that Mrs Thatcher would go to the country in June, earlier in 1983 the Conservatives were split on the timing of the election. One faction favoured a June election, but another group wanted to wait until October before going to the country, while some within the Party even advocated delaying the contest until 1984. Supporters of waiting to a later time to hold an election included Thatcher's deputy and Home Secretary William Whitelaw and John Biffen who
714-553: The largest percentage for any third party since 1923 . Despite this, it won only 23 seats, whereas Labour won 209. The Liberals argued that a proportional electoral system would have given them a more representative number of MPs. Changing the electoral system from First-Past-The-Post had been a long-running campaign plank of the Liberal Party and would later be adopted by its successor, the Liberal Democrats . The election night
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#1732852153710748-564: The next day and Parliament was dissolved on 13 May for a four-week official election campaign. The campaign displayed the huge divisions between the two major parties. Thatcher had been highly unpopular during her first two years in office until the swift and decisive victory in the Falklands War , coupled with an improving economy, considerably raised her standings in the polls. The Conservatives' key issues included reducing unemployment (which had increased from 1.5 million in 1979 to more than 3 million by 1982), continuing economic growth following
782-597: The party to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which then formed the SDP–Liberal Alliance with the existing Liberal Party . Labour was further harmed by its promise to withdraw from the European Economic Community , which alienated Pro-European groups. The opposition vote split almost evenly between the Alliance and Labour. With its worst electoral performance since 1931 , the Labour vote fell by over 3,000,000 votes from 1979, accounting for both
816-609: The post-war era, and their second-biggest majority as a majority government, behind only the 1924 general election (they earned even more seats in the 1931 general election , but were part of the National Government ). The Labour Party had been led by Michael Foot since the resignation of former Prime Minister James Callaghan as Leader of the Labour Party in 1980, and its new policies were considered more left-wing than before. Several moderate Labour MPs had defected from
850-576: The recent recession, and defence. Labour's campaign manifesto involved leaving the European Economic Community , abolishing the House of Lords , abandoning the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent by cancelling Trident and removing cruise missiles — a programme dubbed by Labour MP Gerald Kaufman " the longest suicide note in history "; "Although, at barely 37 pages, it only seemed interminable", noted Roy Hattersley . Pro-Labour political journalist Michael White , writing in The Guardian , commented: "There
884-606: The title Baroness Taylor . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baroness_Taylor&oldid=1130614059 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Title and name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton Winifred Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton , PC (born 2 July 1947)
918-464: Was a disaster for the Labour Party; their share of the vote fell by over 9%, which meant they were only 700,000 votes ahead of the newly formed third party , the SDP–Liberal Alliance. The massive increase of support for the Alliance at the expense of Labour meant that, in many seats, the collapse in the Labour vote allowed the Conservatives to gain. Despite winning over 25% of the national vote,
952-465: Was broadcast live on the BBC and was presented by David Dimbleby , Sir Robin Day and Peter Snow . It was also broadcast on ITV and presented by Alastair Burnet , Peter Sissons and Martyn Lewis . Three future leaders of the Labour Party were first elected to Parliament at this election: Tony Blair (1994–2007), Gordon Brown (2007–2010) and Jeremy Corbyn (2015–2020). In addition, two future Leaders of
986-658: Was educated at Bolton School , where she was head girl. She studied at the University of Bradford , where she graduated with a BSc in Politics and History in 1969. Taylor contested the marginal Bolton West constituency at the February 1974 general election , but lost to incumbent Conservative Robert Redmond by a majority of 603 votes. However, she was elected to represent the same constituency in October 1974 , defeating Redmond with
1020-480: Was held on Thursday 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of the Labour Party in 1945 , with a majority of 144 seats and the first of two consecutive landslide victories. Thatcher's first term as Prime Minister had not been an easy time. Unemployment increased during the first three years of her premiership and
1054-551: Was moved to a new post at both the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as Minister for International Defence and Security . In September 2022 she became a member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission , filling the quota for the Labour Party. 1983 United Kingdom general election Margaret Thatcher Conservative Margaret Thatcher Conservative The 1983 United Kingdom general election
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1088-673: Was something magnificently brave about Michael Foot 's campaign but it was like the Battle of the Somme ." The Alliance had had a setback ahead of the campaign at the Darlington by-election in March. The contest was one that had looked promising ground for the SDP, but despite heavily campaigning in the Labour-held seat, the SDP candidate, who struggled when interviewed for television by Vincent Hanna finished
1122-408: Was then serving as Leader of the House of Commons . On 27 April it was reported that all the Conservative party's regional agents had unanimously expressed a preference to Thatcher for a June election, although some members of her cabinet were advising her to wait until October. On 8 May senior Conservatives met at Chequers and agreed to go to the country on 9 June. The election was formally called
1156-564: Was to be given a life peerage , and she was created Baroness Taylor of Bolton , of Bolton in the County of Greater Manchester , on 13 June 2005. She was made Minister for Defence Procurement on 7 November 2007, following Lord Drayson 's decision to resign to compete in the American Le Mans Series ; unlike her predecessor, she was paid. Following the Brown reshuffle of October 2008, she
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