Landslide victory
From Free net encyclopedia
pl:Lawinowe zwycięstwo In politics, a landslide victory (or just a landslide) is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming majority in an election.
Landslides can occur when one candidate or party is perceived as far superior to their opponents, through unfair elections, or as a result of particular voting systems which may produce distorted or disproportionate results. See bloc voting, and the unanimous 2002 re-election of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, criticised by external observers as a joke.
The opposite of a landslide is a wipeout.
Examples
Canada
- Prince Edward Island general election, 1935, in which the Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island under Walter Lea won every seat in the legislature, the first time in the history of the British Empire that that happened.
- New Brunswick general election, 1987, in which the Liberal Party of New Brunswick won every seat in the legislature
- British Columbia general election, 2001, in which 77 of 79 seats were won by the BC Liberal Party
Hong Kong
- The 1991 election: A coalition of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and the Meeting Point, together with other smaller parties, groups and independents in the pro-democracy camp, getting 17 of the 18 geographical constituency seats.
- The 1995 election: The Democratic Party, together with other smaller parties, groups and independents in the pro-democracy camp, getting 17 of the 20 geographical constituency seats.
United Kingdom
In general, any British general election which results in a majority of over 100 seats tends to be described as a landslide. Notable examples include:
- The 1906 election: Liberal Party overall majority of 356 (assuming Labour and Irish Nationalist support)
- The 1918 election: Coalition overall majority of 239
- The 1924 election: Conservative Party overall majority of 209
- The 1931 election: National government overall majority of 493
- The 1945 election: Labour Party overall majority of 146
- The 1959 election: Conservative overall majority of 100
- The 1966 election: Labour overall majority of 98
- The 1983 election: Conservative overall majority of 144
- The 1997 election: Labour overall majority of 179
Labour's general election victory in 2001 with an overall majority of 167 was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. Though the Government did score a very high majority, public interest in the election was not excited and, unlike most of the landslide results listed above, there was little change from the previous election and no change of governing party.
Landslides are relatively common in British electoral history, and this is partly as a result of the first-past-the-post electoral system. Relatively small differences in numbers of popular votes cast be amplified by the eventual result (for instance, Labour achieved a 66-seat majority in 2005 despite securing only 35% of the vote); conversely, parties can poll very highly and achieve disproportionately low numbers of MPs. In 1992, for example, sitting Conservative Prime Minister John Major polled more votes than any party leader before or since, but was returned with a precarious majority of just 21. Summarily in 1983 the SDP-Liberal Alliance obtained 25% of the vote, 3% behind the labour party, but only won 23 seats (about 3%)
United States
Popular votes
- President Warren Harding's 60.3% to James Cox's 34.1% in the 1920 presidential election
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 60.8% to Alf Landon`s 36.5% in the 1936 presidential election
- President Lyndon Johnson's 61.1% to Barry Goldwater's 38.5% in the 1964 presidential election
- President Richard Nixon's 60.7% to George McGovern's 37.5% in the 1972 presidential election
Electoral votes
- President James Monroe's 231 electoral votes to John Quincy Adams's 1 in 1820. However it should be noted that Adams wasn't actually running and the elector should have cast his vote for Monroe.
- President Abraham Lincoln's 212 electoral votes to George McClellan's 21 electoral votes in 1864
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 523 electoral votes to Alf Landon's 8 electoral votes in 1936
- President Lyndon B. Johnson's 486 electoral votes to Barry Goldwater's 52 electoral votes in 1964
- President Richard Nixon's 520 electoral votes to George McGovern's 17 electoral votes in 1972
- President Ronald Reagan's 489 electoral votes to Jimmy Carter's 49 in 1980
- President Ronald Reagan's 525 electoral votes to Walter Mondale's 13 electoral votes in 1984