Case Study: Recent UK General Elections (2017, 2019, 2024)

This final lesson applies the theories and concepts from the course to three recent UK general elections, providing detailed case study analysis suitable for examination essays.

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The 2017 General Election

Context

• Theresa May called a snap election to strengthen her mandate for Brexit negotiations
• She began with a 20+ point lead in the polls over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour
• The Fixed-term Parliaments Act required a two-thirds majority in the Commons to trigger the election

Result

Party	Seats	Change	Vote %
Conservative	318	-13	42.4%
Labour	262	+30	40.0%
SNP	35	-21	3.0%
Lib Dems	12	+4	7.4%

May lost her majority and was forced to rely on a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP.

Key Factors