1989 Conservative Party leadership election

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1989 Conservative Party leadership election

← 1975 5 December 1989 (1989-12-05) 1990 →

Candidate Margaret Thatcher Sir Anthony Meyer Percentage 90.5% 9.5% First ballot 314 33

Leader before election Margaret Thatcher Elected Leader Margaret Thatcher

The 1989 Conservative Party leadership election took place on 5 December 1989. The incumbent Margaret Thatcher was opposed by the little-known 69-year-old backbencher MP Sir Anthony Meyer. It was the Conservative Party's first leadership election for nearly 15 years, when Thatcher had taken the party leadership.

Whilst Thatcher comfortably won with 90% of the vote, the vote showed 60 MPs who didn't vote for her either by choosing Meyer, spoiling the ballots or abstaining. This can be attributed to her increasingly Eurosceptic views on European integration in the late 80s, despite the Conservatives still being pro Europe at the time. The outcome would ultimately undermine Thatcher as her leadership started to come into question. The following year would see Thatcher once again challenged and eventually resigning following public unrest and discontent with her party.