ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the ‘nuclear election’ campaign of 1983 through the ‘window’ of television. When the election was called the first Cruise missiles were only six months away from their planned deployment at Greenham Common. The label of ‘the nuclear election’ applied by some commentators to the campaign reflected the centrality of defence issues to it. The date of the 1983 General Election was announced by Margaret Thatcher on 9 May, and electioneering began the next day. The next salvo of the campaign was launched at the Scottish Conservative party conference, which began on 12 May in Perth. Labour’s case on defence was largely put on television by Denis Healey, the party’s Foreign Affairs spokesman. Conservative plans for expanding Britain’s nuclear arsenal with the Trident system and to accept new American Cruise missiles were no less radical, and by the evidence of opinion polls no more popular than Labour’s defence programme.
