Keeping the British Liberal Party flag flying high

[pipisme]

The Conservatives held Kettering, and Selby, with Labour in second place, and Gosport, Ipswich, Lancaster, Leek, Southend West, and Wimbledon, with Liberal in second place.

Labour gained Harrow East, Ilford South, and Stalybridge and Hyde from Conservative. They kept Bassetlaw, Dulwich, Eccles, Feltham, Ilkeston, Newton, Norwood, Nottingham East, Rother Valley, Tooting, Warrington North, Widnes, and Wigan, with Conservative in second place. In the Labour held seats of Hull West, Leeds South, Liverpool Broadgreen, Liverpool Walton, Manchester Central, Ogmore, and Wallsend. Plaid Cymru came second in Llanelli, and Neath, In Llanelli the Labour majority fell from 25.1% to 3.7%. The percentage votes were:
Labour: 34.7 (44.4)
Plaid Cymru: 31.0 (19.1)
Liberal: 18.0 (19.3)
Conservative: 15.8 (17.2)
Green: 0.5 (n/a).
The SNP came second in Fife West, and Stirlingshire West.

Jenny Tonge, Minister of State Department of Health, was back in Richmond and Barnes. The Liberals also held Middleton and Prestwich, Nottingham North, Plymouth Drake, and Southampton Test, with Conservative in second place, and Birkenhead with Labour in second place.

There was a recount in Dewsbury where Labour were defending a majority of 2.0% over Conservative. After 551 results, the number of seats won by each party were: Labour- 234, Conservative - 219, Liberal - 87, SNP - 7 , Plaid Cymru - 3, Speaker - 1.

 

[pipisme]

The Conservatives held Cheshunt, East Grinstead, Fylde, Marlow, Newark, Northwich, Rutland and Melton, and Stamford and Spalding, and Wantage, with Liberal in second place. In Hemel Hempstead Labour were in second place.

Clare Short, Minister of State Home Office, was back in Birmingham Ladywood, with Liberal in second place. Labour also kept Sheffield Heeley with Liberal in second place, and East Ham, Walthamstow, West Ham, and Westhoughton, with Conservative in second place. SNP came second in East Kilbride, and Glasgow Maryhill. Labour gained Mitcham and Morden from Conservative.

Ed Davey, Minister of State Department of Social Welfare, and Nick Harvey,
Under Secretary of State Department of Employment, were back in Twickenham, and Devon North respectively. The Liberals also held Hertfordshire South West, and Tiverton, with Conservative in second place. They took Lewes from Conservative and Rugby from Labour.

There was a second recount in Stevenage. After 576 results had been declared, the number of seats won by each party were: Labour - 243, Conservative - 229, Liberal - 93, SNP - 7, Plaid Cymru - 3, Speaker - 1. Both Labour and Liberal had now won more seats than in the 1997 general election.

 

[pipisme]

The Conservatives held Burton, Morecambe and Lunesdale, Uxbridge, Warwick and Leamngton, and Wyre with Labour in second place, and Boothferry, Buckingham, Horsham, Norfolk Mid, Norfolk South West, Reading East, Saffron Walden, and Woodstock with Liberal in second place.

Labour kept Croydon North West by a majority of 46 over Conservative, after a recount, and Dewsbury by a majority of 51 over Conservative, after a recount.

Norman Lamb, the Transport Secretary, was back in Norfolk North. The Liberals also held High Peak, and gained Westbury from Conservative. The Conservatives were in second place in these three constituencies.

At 4.36 am in the early morning of Friday 19 April 2002, all the overnight results had been declared. The number of seats won by each party were: Labour - 245, Conservative - 242, Liberal - 96, SNP - 7, Plaid Cymru - 3, Speaker - 1, total - 494. The third recount in Stevenage was postponed until later in the morning.

 

[pipisme]

The first result declared in the morning of 19 April was Maidstone, which was held by the Conservatives by a majority of 4.0% over Liberal, up from 2.8%. The percentage votes were:
Conservative: 45.3 (43,5)
Liberal: 41.3 (40.9)
Labour: 10.4 (13.8)
Green: 3.0 (2.6)

William Hague, the Chairman of the Conservative Party, was back in Skipton and Ripon. His majority over Liberal was up from 19.9% to 23.6%. The percentage votes were:
William Hague (Conservative): 58.7 (52,2)
Liberal: 35.1 (35.3)
Labour: 6,2 (12.5)
He would always be famous for giving a speech at the age of sixteen at the Conservative Party conference in October 1977. He was elected Conservative MP for the new constituency of Skipton and Ripon in the June 1991 general election, He was Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the June 1996 to April 1997 Conservative government. Then he became Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, and Chairman in April 2000. In interviews with the media, he said that John Gummer had his full support as leader of the Conservative Party.

 

[pipisme]

The Conservatives held Cumberland North and Penrith, Derbyshire West, Hexham, and Isle of Woght, all with Liberal in second place. After third and fourth recounts in Stevenage, the Conservative candidate was elected by a majority of 12 over Labour.

The Liberals gained Ludlow from Conservative. They held Argyll and Bute, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Hereford, Orkney and Shetland, St. Ives, and Truro, with Conservative in second place, and Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire with Plaid Cymru in second place.

Plaid Cymru held Carmarthen, Their majority over Labour was up from 0.2% to 2.8%. The percentage votes for each party were:
Plaid Cymru: 31.8 (31.6)
Labour: 29.0 (31.4)
Liberal: 20,7 (17.5)
Conservative: 18.5 (19.5.

The results from Northern Ireland were that the Ulster Unionist Party held Antrim East, Antrim North, Antrim South, Armagh, Down East, Down West, Fermanagh, and Upper Bann; the Progressive Party held Belfast South, Down North, Down South, and Londonderry North, and gained Belfast East from Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP). Belfast North, Belfast West, Londonderry South, and Tyrone stayed NILP.

When all the results for all the constituencies had been declared, the number of seats in the House of Commons for each party were (April 1997 general election):
Conservative: 253 (283)
Labour: 245 (238)
Liberal: 105 (82)
Ulster Unionist: 8 (8)
SNP: 7 (7)
Progressive: 5 (4)
NILP: 4 (5)
Plaid Cymru: 4 (4)
Speaker: 1 (1)
----------------------.
Total: 632 (632)
----------------------
The percentage votes for each party were:
Conservative: 35.5 (36.4)
Liberal: 28.6 (27.4)
Labour: 27.8 (29.2)
SNP: 3.1 (2.6)
Plaid Cymru: 0.8 (0.6)
Others: 4.2 (3.8)
----------------------------
Total: 100.0 (100.00)
----------------------------
The Conservative, Labour and Liberal votes include those for their Northern Ireland allied parties. The turnout was 80,2% (76.4%).

Meahwhile in the morning of 19 April, the Prime Minister, Cherie Scanlan, returned by plane from Liverpool to London. She went to Labour Party Head Office, and then to 10 Downing Street. Bethan Nash, the leader of the Liberal Party, travelled by train from Leominster to Paddongton Station, and then by Liberal Party car to the Liberal Party Head Office.

 

[MatthewFirth]

Hung parliament.

 

[pipisme]

The percentage votes for each party in constituencies in Northern Ireland were:
Ulster Unionist: 38.1
Progressive: 32.6
NILP: 27.1
Others: 2.2.

The percentage votes in Scotland were (April 1997 general election):
Labour: 28.1 (31.1)
Conservative: 26.3 (25.3)
SNP: 23.4 (21.5)
Liberal: 21.2 (21.2)
Others: 1.0 (0.9)

The percentage votes in Wales were:
Labour: 39.7
Conservative: 25.3
Liberal: 23.0
Plaid Cymru: 11.0
Others: 1.0.

Negotiations between Conservative shadow cabinet minister and Liberal cabinet ministers for a coalition government of the two parties, ended in failure. The Conservatives did not agree to the Liberal demands for no university tuition fees, and for a referendum on the Additional Member System (AMS) for elections to the House of Commons. Negotiations for a continuation of the Labour/Liberal coalition were successful, and agreement was reached in the afternoon of Sunday 21 April 2002. Together with their Northern Ireland sister parties they had 359 seats to 272 seats for all other parties, a majority of 87 seats in the House of Commons.

Cherie Scanlan appointed her cabinet on 21 and 22 April. The members were as follows (Labour unless specified otherwise):
Prime Minister: Cherie Scanlan
Lord Chancellor: Senator Alexander Andrew Irvine (known as Derry Irvine)
Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and leader of the House of Commons: Bethan Nash (Liberal)
Lord Privy Seal and leader of the Senate: Senator Gareth Wyn Williams
Chancellor of the Exchequer: Gordon Brown
Foreign Secretary: Peter Tatchell
Home Secretary: Simon Hughes (Liberal)
Culture and Communications Secretary: Chris Smith
Defence Secretary: Alan Beith (Liberal)
Education and Science Secretary and Minister for Women: Dawn Primarolo
Employment Secretary: David Blunkett
Energy Secretary: Clive Betts
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary: Malcolm Bruce (Liberal). This was a new department which combined the Department of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Health Secretary: Ann Taylor
Housing and Local Government Secretary: Michael Meadowcroft (Liberal)
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Charles Kennedy (Liberal)
Northern Ireland Secretary: Sean Neeson (Progressive)
Overseas Development Secretary: Clare Short
Scotland Secretary: Robin Cook
Social Welfare Secretary: Michael Meacher
Trade and Industry Secretary: Liz Lynne (Liberal)
Transport Secretary: Norman Lamb (Liberal)
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Nigel Jones (Liberal)
Wales Secretary: Kim Howells.
There were 14 Labour, 9 Liberal and one Progressive cabinet ministers. 19 of the ministers were men, and five were women.

 

[pipisme]

Here are selected junior ministers, appointed 22 and 23 April 2002. Labour also stated otherwise:
Attorney-General: Sir Denzil Davies KC
Solicitor-General: Sir Archy Kirkwood KC (Liberal)
Paymaster-General: Kevin McNamara
Economic Secretary to the Treasury: Yvette Cooper
Financial Secretary to the Treasury: Paul Boateng
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Government Chief Whip): Hilary Armstrong and Nick Harvey (Liberal)
Minister of State Foreign and Commonwealth Office: David Alton (Liberal)
Minister of State Home Office: Chris Mullin
Minister of Defence Culture and Communications: Tom Brake (Liberal)
Minister of State Defence: John Reid
Minister of State Education and Science: Patsy Calton (Liberal)
Minister of State Employment: Adrian Sanders (Liberal)
Minister of State Energy: Chris Huhne (Liberal)
Minister of State Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Dale Campbell-Savour
Minister of State Health: Jenny Tonge (Liberal)
Minister of State Housing and Local Government: Frank Dobson
Minister of State Northern Ireland Office: Seamus Mallon (NILP)
Minister of State Overseas Development: Norman Baker (Liberal).

 

[pipisme]

Other junior ministers appointed were:
Minister of State Scottish Office: Michael Moore (Liberal)
Minister of State Social Welfare: Ed Davey (Liberal)
Minister of State Trade and Industry: Ed Balls
Minister of State Transport: Paul Tyler (Liberal)
Minister of State Welsh Office: Jenny Willott (Liberal).

 

[sarahz]

Other junior ministers appointed were:
Minister of State Scottish Office: Michael Moore (Liberal)
Minister of State Social Welfare: Ed Davey (Liberal)
Minister of State Trade and Industry: Ed Balls
Minister of State Transport: Paul Tyler (Liberal)
Minister of State Welsh Office: Jenny Willott (Liberal).

Hmm did the PO have any software issues like Capture or Horizon ittl.

 

[idumea]

Horizon has likely been butterflied away by the lack of PFI contracts in the 1990s and the relative health of ICL and Fujitsu in this timeline.