ON THIS DAY    Themes      Graphics version >>   BBC News >>
Search ON THIS DAY by date   
Front Page |  Years |  Themes |  Witness
Political Parties

24 Feb
1950: Labour wins slim majority

26 Oct
1951: Churchill wins general election

05 Apr
1955: Sir Winston Churchill resigns

27 May
1955: Election victory for Tories under Eden

07 Dec
1955: Attlee steps down as Labour leader

09 Jan
1957: Sir Anthony Eden resigns

10 Jan
1957: Macmillan becomes Prime Minister

20 Jul
1957: Britons 'have never had it so good'

09 Oct
1959: 'Supermac' leads Tories to victory

15 Mar
1962: Liberals seize Orpington

18 Jan
1963: Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell dies

27 Jul
1965: Heath is new Tory leader

13 Mar
1970: Conservative victory in first teen election

19 Jun
1970: Shock election win for Heath

11 Oct
1974: Labour scrapes working majority

26 Apr
1975: Labour votes to leave the EEC

16 Mar
1976: Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns

05 Apr
1976: Callaghan is new prime minister

07 Apr
1976: Government crisis as Stonehouse quits

30 Mar
1978: Tories recruit advertisers to win votes

14 Dec
1978: Labour faces vote of confidence

28 Mar
1979: Early election as Callaghan defeated

04 May
1979: Election victory for Margaret Thatcher

10 Oct
1980: Thatcher 'not for turning'

10 Nov
1980: Michael Foot is new Labour leader

25 Jan
1981: Dissident Labour MPs plan new party

26 Mar
1981: 'Gang of four' launches new party

18 Feb
1981: Thatcher gives in to miners

09 Jun
1983: Thatcher wins landslide victory

02 Oct
1983: 'Dream ticket' wins Labour leadership

12 Oct
1984: Tory Cabinet in Brighton bomb blast

27 Nov
1985: Kinnock moves against Militant

12 Jun
1986: Labour expels Militant Hatton

11 Jun
1987: Thatcher wins record third term

06 Aug
1987: David Owen resigns as leader of SDP

27 Aug
1987: Maclennan replaces Owen in SDP

28 Jul
1988: Ashdown to lead Britain's third party

05 Dec
1989: Thatcher beats off leadership rival

18 Dec
1989: Labour's union U-turn

20 Jun
1990: Major proposes new Euro currency

20 Nov
1990: Thatcher fails to win party mandate

22 Nov
1990: Thatcher quits as prime minister

27 Nov
1990: Tories choose Major for Number 10

28 Jun
1991: Thatcher to retire from Commons

13 Apr
1992: Labour's Neil Kinnock resigns

12 May
1994: Labour leader John Smith dies at 55

21 Jul
1994: Labour chooses Blair

04 Jul
1995: Major wins Conservative leadership

19 May
1997: Labour to stub out tobacco sponsorship

10 May
1998: Sinn Fein backs peace deal

09 Aug
1999: Kennedy wins Lib Dem leadership

25 Mar
2000: Trimble narrowly wins leadership challenge

16 Jul
2001: Rebel MPs defeat the government

13 Sep
2001: Duncan Smith is new Tory leader

29 Oct
2003: Tory Party leader resigns

06 Dec
2005: David Cameron is new Tory leader

Search ON THIS DAY by date   
Front Page |  Years |  Themes |  Witness
^^ Back to top | ©