Thatcher Wins 3rd Term in Britain - June 1987

For the first time since the 1820s, a British prime minister was elected to a third consecutive term. Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative Party, which had first come to power in 1979, swept to victory, June 11, in parliamentary elections. The Tories ran on a record of having reducing taxes, inflation, and labor strife. Thatcher's party won 375 seats in Parliament, a slight decline from 392 in the old Parliament. Labour won 229 seats and the centrist Alliance of the Liberal and Social Democratic parties won 33 seats. In the popular vote, the results were closer: Tories 42 percent, Labour 33 percent, and the Alliance 23 percent.