United Kingdom General Election, January 1999

The United Kingdom General Election of January 1999 took place on Thursday 7th January 1999, and was the first of two elections that year. The previous election had resulted in a Hung Parliament, with no party winning an overall majority, and as a result a Coalition Government consisting of the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats was formed.

By the end of 1998, the behaviour of Liberal Democrat leader, Edward Kensington, was growing more erratic by the day and the junior coalition partner was fast becoming an embarassment. Kensington finally resigned in October. This, the growing popularity of the smaller parties and the defeat of a major piece of Government legislation, led Prime Minister Damien Parker to hold a fresh General Election, hoping to rid himself of the Lib Dem millstone.

Despite strong exit polling performance, the Conservative vote actually dropped slightly, with the party losing 5 seats. Labour's gamble had paid off. They now had their own majority of 7 seats.