Applying US Critical Election Theories to the 97′ UK General Election: Was the 1997 British General Election really a ?watershed? moment in British politics? April 2008

At the time, many commentators declared the 1997 British General Election to be a ?watershed? moment in British politics. The aim of this monograph is to assess that claim with the benefit of perspective by reference to the American Critical Election model. By comparing it to the ?classic? critical elections in the US and the British election’s of 1945 and 1979, it is argued that 1997 did indeed mark a pivotal moment in Britain’s post-war history. Analysis includes a discussion about the Critical Election model’s key elements, its suitability for explaining the modern political climate and its explanatory value to the British case. The sources used are a mixture of books, academic journals, newspaper articles and online resources.