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Landslide victory

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Ronald Reagan's win in the 1984 United States presidential election, where he won 49 states out of 50 and 525 out of 538 electoral votes, is considered a landslide victory.

A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning candidate or party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyond the typical competitive outcome.[1][2][3][4] The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried",[1] similar to the way in which a geological landslide buries whatever is in its path. A landslide victory for one party is often accompanied by an electoral wipeout for the opposition, as the overwhelming support for the winning side inflicts a decisive loss on its rivals. What qualifies as a landslide victory can vary depending on the type of electoral system, as the term does not entail a precise, technical, or universally agreed-upon measurement. Instead, it is used informally in everyday language, making it subject to interpretation. Even within a single electoral system, there is no consensus on the exact margin that constitutes a landslide victory.[1] For example, Ronald Reagan's win in the 1984 United States presidential election, where he won 49 states out of 50 and 525 out of 538 electoral votes, is considered a landslide victory.[5]

A landslide victory implies a powerful expression of popular will and a ringing endorsement by the electorate for the winner’s political platform. Such a decisive outcome can lead the winner to interpret it as a mandate or a tacit authorization from the public to implement their proposed policies and pursue their agenda with confidence. Emboldened by the result, the winner may undertake ambitious reforms or significant policy shifts to reflect the electorate’s desire for meaningful change.[6] Conversely, a landslide victory may raise suspicions of electoral fraud when the result is vastly inconsistent with pre-election opinion polls. In countries with histories of alleged or proven electoral manipulation, such an overwhelming outcome may lack legitimacy, particularly if the ruling party controls the electoral infrastructure. A landslide perceived as tainted by vote rigging can lead to political unrest, protests, or calls for re-elections.[7]

A combination of factors–such as charismatic leadership, a favorable shift in public sentiment driven by dissatisfaction with the status quo, strategic electoral campaigning and a positive media portrayal–can create the conditions necessary for a landslide victory. Such a victory may fundamentally reshape the political landscape of a country, as seen in Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 presidential win and the subsequent New Deal policies, which led to major reforms in banking, labor, and social welfare systems, shifting the political center of gravity to the left and leaving Republicans fragmented for much of the following decades.[8] In this imbalanced landscape, the winning party could implement policies more easily, facing little resistance, while the severely weakened opposition may struggle to perform essential checks and balances. Alternatively, landslide victories can give rise to high public expectations for rapid change and reform, placing pressure on the winning party to fulfill its promises, with failure potentially leading to disappointment and long-term damage to credibility and support.[9]

Notable examples

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Australia

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Local and mayoral elections:

State and territory elections:

  • 2021 Western Australian state election – Mark McGowan led the Labor Party to win 53 out of the 59 seats in the lower house. The Labor Party had a primary vote of 59.92% and a two-party-preferred vote of 69.68%. The National Party won 4 seats and the Liberal Party won 2 seats, making the National Party the official opposition, the first time they had held this status since the 1940s. To date, the election is the most decisive result at any Australian state or federal election since Federation, in terms of both percentage of lower house seats controlled by the governing party (89.8%) and two-party preferred margin.[12][13]
Map displaying Labor's landslide victory at the 2021 Western Australian state election. Seats won by Labor are in red, seats won by the Liberals are in blue and seats won by the Nationals are in green.

Barbados

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In Barbadian general elections, a landslide victory involves a large swing from one party to another as well as one party winning a large majority in parliament. Landslide victories have usually occurred after a long period of government from one particular party and a change in the popular mood.

Brazil

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Canada

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A map of the vote by province in 1940 shows the scale of the Liberals' landslide victory.
A map of the vote by province in 1984 shows the scale of the Progressive Conservatives' landslide victory.

In a Canadian federal election, a landslide victory occurs when a political party gains a significant majority of the House of Commons of Canada.

Landslide victories may also occur during provincial elections, and territorial elections in Yukon. Landslide victories are not possible for territorial elections in the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, as its members are elected without reference to political parties, operating as a consensus government.

National landslide victories

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The following Canadian federal elections resulted in landslide victories:[14]

  • 1874 – The Liberals won 133 seats while the Conservatives won just 73 seats.
  • 1878 – The Conservatives won 137 seats while the Liberals won just 69 seats.
  • 1882 – The Conservatives won 139 seats while the Liberals won just 71 seats.
  • 1900 – The Liberals won 132 seats while the Conservatives won just 81.
  • 1904 – The Liberals won 139 seats while the Conservatives won just 75.
  • 1908 – The Liberals won 133 seats while the Conservatives won just 85.
  • 1911 – The Conservatives won 133 seats while the Liberals won just 86.
  • 1917 – The Conservatives won 153 seats while the Liberals won just 82.
  • 1930 – The Conservatives won 137 seats while the Liberals won just 91.
  • 1935 – The Liberals won 171 seats while the Conservatives won just 39.
  • 1940 – The Liberals won 178 seats while the Progressive Conservatives won just 39.
  • 1949 – The Liberals won 190 seats while the Progressive Conservatives won just 41.
  • 1953 – The Liberals won 171 seats while the Progressive Conservatives won just 51.
  • 1958 – The Progressive Conservatives won 208 seats while the Liberals won just 48.
  • 1968 – The Liberals won 155 seats while the Progressive Conservatives won just 72.
  • 1984 – The Progressive Conservatives won 211 seats while the Liberals won just 40.
  • 1993 – The Liberals won 177 seats while the Bloc Québecois, which ran only in Québec, won 54. The ruling Progressive Conservatives dropped from 154 to 2. This is considered as the last landslide Canadian federal election.

Provincial examples

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Costa Rica

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Croatia

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Results in all of Croatia's counties: the counties in blue voted for Tuđman, and Istria County voted for Gotovac (marked in yellow).

Dominica

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Fiji

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France

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Only include those after 1958.

French Polynesia

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Grenada

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In Grenadian general elections, a landslide victory involves a large swing from one party to another as well as one party winning a large majority in parliament. Landslide victories have usually occurred after a long period of government from one particular party and a change in the popular mood.

Hong Kong

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Legislative Council elections:

Local elections:

  • 2019 – The pro-democracy camp seized control of 17 of the 18 District Councils, tripling their seats from about 124 to 389. The pro-Beijing parties and independents won only 61 seats, a loss of 242 seats, received their largest defeat in history.

Hungary

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Ireland

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The 1977 Irish general election, which elected members of the 21st Dáil Éireann on 16 June 1977, resulted in a landslide win for the main opposition party Fianna Fáil. The election saw the party win 84 seats in the 148 Dáil, receiving 50.6% of all first preference votes cast. The incumbent Fine Gael/Labour National Coalition government was defeated, with Fianna Fáil gaining a 20-seat majority in the lower house of the Oireachtas (Ireland's national parliament). This was the last time a single political party won an outright majority in an Irish general election.

Italy

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  • 2005 Italian regional elections – The Union centre-left coalition won the presidency in 12 out of 14 regions that were holding elections that year. After this election the centre-left controlled the presidency in 16 out of Italy's 20 regions.
  • 2020 Venetian regional election – Incumbent president of Veneto Luca Zaia (Lega) won carrying 76.79% of the vote, five times as many as his main opponent Arturo Lorenzoni's (PD) 15.72%.

Jamaica

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In Jamaican elections, a landslide victory involves a large swing from one party to another as well as one party winning a large majority in parliament. Landslide victories have usually occurred after a long period of government from one particular party and a change in the popular mood.

Malaysia

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Results of the Malaysian election of 2004. Barisan Nasional won the constituencies in blue.

Mexico

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Monaco

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Monaco is traditionally dominated by conservative parties with only two cases in which left-of-centre parties won any seats (1963 and 1973).

New Zealand

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Until 1993, New Zealand used the traditional first-past-the-post system as in the U.K. to determine representation in its Parliament. Thus, landslide elections at that time were defined in an identical fashion, i.e. where one party got an overwhelming majority of the seats. Since 1996, New Zealand has used the mixed member proportional system as in Germany, making landslides much less likely.[20]

First past the post

MMP

  • 2002 election – The Labour Party won 52 seats while the National Party won just 27 seats.[22]
  • 2011 election – The National Party won 59 seats while the Labour Party won just 34 seats.
  • 2014 election – The National Party won 60 seats while the Labour Party won just 32 seats.[23]
  • 2020 election – The Labour Party won 65 seats while the National Party won just 33 seats (the first time any party won an overall majority under MMP)[24]

Papua New Guinea

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Paraguay

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Philippines

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Ramon Magsaysay (light green)'s 1953 landslide victory.

In 1941, the Nacionalista Party won the presidency, vice presidency, all seats in the Senate, and all but 3 seats in the House of Representatives. This was the biggest landslide in Philippine history. The legislators didn't serve until 1945 though, due to World War II.

Starting in 1987, the Philippines evolved into a multi-party system, and coupled with the introduction of party-list elections in 1998, no party was able to win a landslide, much less a majority of seats, in the House of Representatives since then. This has also meant that no presidential and vice presidential election winner won a majority of votes, although, in 1998, the winners were described as having landslide victories, despite winning less than a majority of votes, due to large winning margins. Senatorial landslides are more possible though in midterm elections, as voters are usually presented with two distinct choices. The 2022 presidential election was the first landslide since 1987.

Presidential and vice presidential elections

In the Philippines, while there are presidential tickets, the positions of president and vice president are elected separately.

Senate

House of Representatives

Portugal

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Legislative Elections
District map that shows the scale of the 1991 Social Democrats' landslide victory.
District map that shows the scale of the 2022 Socialists' landslide victory.
Presidential Elections
Azorean Regional Elections
Madeiran Regional Elections

Alberto João Jardim, member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) was the president of the Madeira region from 1978 to 2015. During this period of time, landslide victories for the Social Democrats were the norm. In 2015, the party, now led by Miguel Albuquerque, also achieved a landslide victory.

Landslide victories for the Social Democratic Party in Madeira
Year % of votes
for the PSD		 2nd most voted party
Name % of votes Margin
1976 election [pt] 59.6% Socialist Party 22.3% 37.3%
1980 election [pt] 65.3% Socialist Party 15.0% 50.3%
1984 election [pt] 67.8% Socialist Party 15.3% 52.5%
1988 election [pt] 62.3% Socialist Party 16.8% 45.5%
1992 election [pt] 56.9% Socialist Party 22.6% 34.3%
1996 election 56.9% Socialist Party 24.8% 32.1%
2000 election 56.0% Socialist Party 21.0% 35.0%
2004 election 53.7% Socialist Party 27.4% 26.3%
2007 election 64.2% Socialist Party 15.4% 48.8%
2011 election 48.6% CDS – People's Party 17.6% 31.0%
2015 election 44.4% CDS – People's Party 13.7% 30.7%

Samoa

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Results of the 2006 Samoan general election by constituency.

Slovakia

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The Direction – Social Democracy landslide victory in 2012.

Spain

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Basque Country

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  • 2001 – Juan Jose Ibarretxe's Basque National Party-Basque Solidarity (PNV-EA) alliance won 33 seats and 42.2% of the share, 20 percentage points ahead of PP. The result is the best performance for the top voted list in a Basque regional election. With a record turnout of 79%, PNV-EA obtained more than 600,000 votes. PNV-EA also won more seats than PP (19) and PSE-EE (13) together, and was able to secure a working majority in parliament.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

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A landslide victory in the elections of St. Vincent and the Grenadines involves a large swing from one party to another as well as one party winning a large majority in parliament. Landslide victories have usually occurred after a long period of government from one particular party and a change in the popular mood.

Taiwan

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In the 2020 election, the Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won 8.17 million votes, 57.1% of the votes cast, a historic landslide victory.

Presidential and Legislative Election held on the same day

Trinidad and Tobago

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In Trinidad and Tobago's elections, a landslide victory involves a large swing from one party to another as well as one party winning a large majority in parliament. Landslide victories have usually occurred after a long period of government from one particular party and a change in the popular mood. Party politics and the political structure in Trinidad and Tobago has generally run along ethnic lines with most Afro-Trinidadians supporting the People's National Movement (PNM) and most Indo-Trinidadians supporting various Indian-majority parties, such as the current United National Congress (UNC) or its predecessors.

Tobago

Ukraine

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United Kingdom

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This map shows the Conservative Party landslide victory in 1983.
This map shows the Conservative Party landslide victory in 1987.
This map shows the Labour Party landslide victory in 1997.
This map shows the Labour Party landslide victory in 2001.
This map shows the Conservative Party landslide victory in 2019.
This map shows the Labour Party landslide victory in 2024.

In UK General Elections, a landslide victory involves winning a large majority in parliament and often goes with a large swing from one party to another as well. Landslide victories have usually occurred after a long period of government from one particular party and a change in the popular mood. In the past a majority of over 100 was regarded as the technical hurdle to be defined as a landslide, as that allows the government freedom to easily enact its policies in parliament. In more recent times, the label 'landslide' has been applied in numerous press articles to victories which would not previously have been regarded as such, for example the Conservative Party majority of 80 in 2019. Its current usage is more as political commentary rather than technical definition and is a reflection of the strength of the party's ability to put its programme through parliament.[27][28][29][30]

The largest landslide by any single party in the UK parliament, since universal suffrage was introduced, was the majority of 179 won by Tony Blair's Labour Party in 1997.

Notable landslide election results

  • 1906 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman led his Liberal Party to victory over Arthur Balfour's Conservative Party who lost more than half their seats, including his own seat in Manchester East, as a result of the large national swing to the Liberal Party (The 5.4% swing from the Conservatives to Liberals was at the time the highest ever achieved). The Liberal Party won 397 seats (an increase of 214) while the Conservative Party were left with 156 seats (a decrease of 246).[31][32]
  • 1945 – Clement Attlee led his Labour Party to victory over Winston Churchill's Conservative Party, a 12.0% swing from the Conservatives to Labour. Labour won 393 seats (an increase of 239) while the Conservative Party were left with 197 (a decrease of 190).[33]
  • 1966 – Harold Wilson led the Labour Party to win 364 seats (an increase of 47) and gained an overall majority of 98 while the Conservative Party won 253 seats (a decrease of 51).
  • 1983 – Margaret Thatcher won her second term in office with a landslide victory for the Conservatives gaining an overall majority of 144 by winning 397 seats (an increase of 38 seats) on 42.4% of the national vote and forcing her main opponent Michael Foot to resign after Labour won 209 seats.
  • 1987 – Margaret Thatcher won her third term in office with a second landslide victory for the Conservatives gaining an overall majority of 102 by winning 376 seats (a decrease of 21 seats).
  • 1997 – Tony Blair led the Labour Party to win 418 seats (an increase of 145) and gained an overall majority of 179 while the Conservative Party won 165 seats (a decrease of 178). The swing from the Conservatives to Labour was 10.2% and was the second biggest general election victory of the 20th Century after 1931.[34]
  • 2001 – Tony Blair led the Labour Party to win 412 seats (a decrease of 6) and gained an overall majority of 167 while the Conservative Party won 166 seats (an increase of 1). Making Tony Blair the first Labour Prime Minister to serve two consecutive full terms in office.[35]
  • 2019 – Boris Johnson led the Conservative Party to win a total of 365 seats (an increase of 48) and a majority of 80 seats, the party's largest majority since 1987. It left the Labour Party, who were led by Jeremy Corbyn, with 202 seats (a decrease of 60, their worst result since 1935). The election led to 54 Labour seats changing to Conservative predominantly in the Midlands and Northern England - some of which had been held by Labour since the first half of the 20th century.[36]
  • 2024 – Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to win 411 seats (an increase of 209, the party's highest seat count since 2001) and a majority of 172 seats, while the Conservative Party led by Rishi Sunak won 121 seats (a decrease of 244), the party's worst ever result, exceeding the previous worst defeat of 1906.[37]

United States

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The map of the Electoral College in 1936 shows the scale of Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide victory.
The map of the Electoral College in 1964 shows the scale of Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory.
The map of the Electoral College in 1972 shows the scale of Richard Nixon's landslide victory.
The map of the Electoral College in 1984 shows the scale of Ronald Reagan's landslide victory.

A landslide victory in U.S. Presidential elections occurs when a candidate has an overwhelming majority in the Electoral College.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Murse, Tom (8 October 2020). "Landslide Victory: Definition in Elections". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Landslide". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Landslide". Cambridge Dictionaries (Online). Cambridge University Press. n.d. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Landslide". CollinsDictionary.com. HarperCollins. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  5. ^ Howell Raines (7 November 1984). "Reagan Wins By a Landslide, Sweeping at Least 48 States; G.O.P. Gains Strength in House". New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  6. ^ James H Fowler; Oleg Smirnov (2009), Mandates, Parties, and Voters: How Elections Shape the Future, p. 15
  7. ^ Joanna Slater; Azad Majumder (31 December 2018). "Why Bangladesh's landslide election result is bad for its democracy". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  8. ^ Jason D. Mycoff; Joseph August Pika (2008), Confrontation and Compromise: Presidential and Congressional Leadership, 2001-2006, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, p. 11
  9. ^ Benjamin Martill (11 May 2017). "Why a landslide victory might actually be a bad thing for Theresa May". The Conversation. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Newman wins Brisbane election landslide". ABC News. 15 March 2008.
  11. ^ "The Mayor that was re-elected in a landslide, collecting 85 per cent of the votes". 20 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Biggest State Election Landslides". Armarium Interreta. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Mark McGowan claims WA election victory as Liberals all but wiped out". The New Daily. 14 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Party Standings in the House of Commons (1867-date)". PARLINFO. Library of Parliament. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Fiji's military strongman voted out in landslide to the Labour Party". 19 May 1999.
  16. ^ Fiji coup leader sworn in as PM Herald Sun. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2023
  17. ^ "Fiji's Military Ruler Wins Landslide Election Victory (2014)". YouTube. 13 September 2016.
  18. ^ "Dominating victory in Jamaica elections even surprises winning opposition side". Washington Post. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  19. ^ "Political Tsunami turns Jamaica green with massive JLP victory". Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  20. ^ Electoral Commission (17 July 2014). Mixed Member Proportional Representation in New Zealand (Video). Wellington.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1890–1993 general elections". Electoral Commission New Zealand. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Official Count Results -- Overall Status". 2002 General Election – Official Results. Electoral Commission. 8 October 2002. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  23. ^ "Official Count Results -- Overall Status". 2014 General Election – Official Results. Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  24. ^ "New Zealand election: Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party scores landslide win". BBC News. 17 October 2020. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Elections in 2006". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  26. ^ "Legislative Assembly (Fono)". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  27. ^ Bush, Stephen (8 June 2021). "Despite all reports, the election wasn't a landslide – and Johnson may be about to discover that reality". New Statesman. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  28. ^ "Election results 2019: Boris Johnson returns to power with big majority". BBC News. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  29. ^ Holder, Josh; Voce, Antonio; Barr, Caelainn; Holder, Josh; Voce, Antonio; Barr, Caelainn. "How did Boris Johnson achieve his landslide victory? A visual guide". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  30. ^ "Inside the landslide: Thatcher's personal papers for 1983 opened to the public". University of Cambridge. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  31. ^ "1906: The Liberal landslide". 9 February 2006 – via bbc.co.uk.
  32. ^ Liberal Landslide: The General Election of 1906.
  33. ^ Labour Landslide, July 5-19, 1945.
  34. ^ Labour's Landslide: The British General Election 1997.
  35. ^ "The rise and fall of New Labour". BBC News. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Boris Johnson must fulfil his One Nation pledge". Financial Times. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  37. ^ "UK election results 2024". BBC. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
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