1983 General Election

For yours truly, 1983's General Election was especially significant. First of all, as I had turned 18 that year I had the vote for the first time ever, and up until this year my local Member of Parliament was none other than former Prime Minister Sir Harold Wilson. He had served as MP for the Huyton constituency for 33 years, including all his time as Prime Minister, but by 1983 he had announced his intention to stand down as an MP, and was later created as Lord Wilson of Rievalux. 

For the 1983 Election, the Conservative government of the day introduced a number of constituency boundary changes and one of those meant the abolition of Wilson's old Huyton constituency. The newly-created Knowsley South constituency replaced it, with a new candidate in Sean Hughes standing for the Labour party in what would still be considered an extremely safe seat. Indeed, Hughes won the seat comfortably in 1983 with a majority of 11,769.

However, nationally it was the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher who romped the election with a landslide win, helped in part by her role in reclaiming the Falklands the year before but also by a split in the opposition vote, as many senior Labour figures had defected from the party in the two years previous, in order to join the new Social Democratic Party. The new party, headed by former Labour minister Dr David Owen, formed an alliance with the Liberal party in order to fight the election and despite gaining 25 percent of the popular vote (only a few thousand fewer than Labour) they won few seats in Parliament. Labour's vote fell by over 3 million, as they suffered from a 4 percent swing to the Conservatives, who eventually won with an increased parliamentary majority of 144 seats. Labour, led by veteran firebrand Michael Foot, came under media criticism, mainly for its manifesto pledging unilateral nuclear disarmament (described as 'the longest suicide note in history' by one of his own MPs, Gerald Kaufman) and also for its selection of an ageing leader whose public image contrasted badly against the more telegenic and dynamic Thatcher.

Labour would spend the next 14 years in opposition, as Thatcher consolidated her grip on power and set about changing the country for good. Foot resigned as Labour leader shortly after the election defeat as the party licked its wounds, eventually choosing the much younger Neil Kinnock as its leader.

As for Margaret Thatcher, her term as Prime Minister was defined partly by the Falklands conflict and also for her tough, uncompromising stance against unions, culminating in a bitter battle against Arthur Scargill's miners' union who opposed her plans for the industry. Although Thatcher prevailed in that battle, the scars remain to this day and were in evidence once again in April 2013, when her passing was mourned by some, yet joyfully celebrated by others who had not forgotten the bitter disputes three decades earlier.

The constituency of Knowsley South continued to be represented by Sean Hughes until his premature death in 1990, after which he was succeeded by Eddie O'Hara, in the safest Labour seat in the country. Further boundary changes in 2010 saw the constituency abolished and the new Knowsley constituency (taking in the old Huyton one), was represented by George Howarth who held it for Labour with an overwhelming majority of 25,690.

Wilson is commemorated today with a statue situated in Huyton town centre, sculpted by the local artist Tom Murphy.