32-693: Cynon may refer to: Cynon Valley [ edit ] Cynon Valley , one of the South Wales Valleys River Cynon , the river which gives its name to the Cynon Valley Rhondda Cynon Taf , an administrative area in Wales created through the merger of the former districts of the Rhondda, Cynon Valley and Taff-Ely Cynon Valley (UK Parliament constituency) ,
64-554: 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
96-580: A UK constituency that serves the Cynon Valley Cynon Valley (Assembly constituency) , a Welsh Assembly constituency that serves the Cynon Valley People [ edit ] Cynon ap Clydno , a Welsh hero of Arthurian legend Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Cynon . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
128-617: A campus in the Cynon Valley based in Aberdare . 51°39′25″N 3°27′40″W / 51.657°N 3.461°W / 51.657; -3.461 1983 United Kingdom general election Margaret Thatcher Conservative Margaret Thatcher Conservative The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher
160-519: 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
192-569: 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
224-472: 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
256-477: 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
288-518: 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 the post-war era, and their second-biggest majority as
320-487: 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
352-639: Is a former coal mining valley in Wales . It lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon . Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash in the south. From 1974 to 1996, Cynon Valley was a local government district . At the 2001 census , the Cynon Valley had a population of 63,512, 12.1% of whom were Welsh speakers. In common with some of
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#1732773225623384-710: 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
416-499: 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
448-492: 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
480-523: 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
512-406: 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
544-514: 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
576-678: 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
608-616: 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
640-568: 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
672-437: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cynon&oldid=937429436 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Cynon Valley Cynon Valley ( Welsh : Cwm Cynon )
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#1732773225623704-525: 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 the economy went through a recession . However, the British victory in the Falklands War led to
736-564: 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
768-507: The other South Wales Valleys , Cynon Valley had a high percentage of Welsh speakers until the early 20th century. From 1974 to 1996, the borough of Cynon Valley was one of thirty-seven districts of Wales . The district was formed from the Aberdare and Mountain Ash urban districts , the parish of Rhigos from Neath Rural District and the parish of Penderyn from Brecknockshire . It was one of six districts of Mid Glamorgan , and in 1996
800-608: 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
832-697: 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
864-464: 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,
896-468: 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
928-760: Was formed for the election of a member of parliament to the House of Commons . The constituency had identical boundaries to the local government district. In 1999, a Welsh Assembly constituency with the same boundaries was formed. In 2010 , the constituency was redefined as consisting of 15 electoral divisions of the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf: Aberaman North, Aberaman South, Abercynon, Aberdare East, Aberdare West/Llwydcoed, Cilfynydd, Cwmbach, Glyncoch, Hirwaun, Mountain Ash East, Mountain Ash West, Penrhiwceiber, Pen-y-waun, Rhigos, Ynysybwl. The two main towns are Aberdare and Mountain Ash. Coleg y Cymoedd has
960-401: Was merged into the larger unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf . Throughout the council's existence, the Labour Party held a majority of the seats on the council. The council was based at Rock Grounds on High Street in Aberdare, which was built in 1938 for one of the council's predecessors, Aberdare Urban District Council . In 1983 , the parliamentary constituency of Cynon Valley
992-697: 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
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1024-408: 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
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