Impact of the SDP on British Elections

Analysis of polling data suggests that the Social Democratic Party (STP) in British elections did not actually split the anti-Conservative vote as assumed by the Labour Party. Polling indicated that if STP voters had to choose between Thatcher's Conservatives and Foot's Labour, they would opt for Thatcher's Conservatives by about two to one. Therefore, the STP might have prevented a bigger win for Thatcher in 1983 by providing an alternative for voters who opposed a Michael Foot government but did not want to vote Conservative.

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