‘Vote conservative – vote Blair’: Labour and the tabloid press 1992–2003

It is difficult to understate the transformation that occurred in Labour’s electoral and newspaper support between 1992-1997. In the aftermath of the 1992 defeat, many commentators were again predicting that Labour could never win power in its present form. Not entirely unconnected for some was the way the election and its acrimonious aftermath had also graphically illustrated the state of virtual war between the party and press since 1979.3 But by 1997 the situation had changed to an extent unimaginable five years earlier. Labour’s landslide victory of May 1997 saw the election of a record number of Labour MPs in the biggest electoral swing for 50 years.4