Poll Graph, UK General Elections: 1997, 2001, 2005

This graph shows the results of polling for the UK General Elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005.

Context:
In the 1992 election, a hung parliament was predicted by the polls with Labour being the largest party, however, the results were quite different. A majority Conservative government was elected, led by PM John Major, which would rule Britain for the next 5 years. In 1996, Major would lose his diminishing 21 seat majority due to a string of by-elections, a sign of his party's declining popularity. By 1997, the Conservatives were far behind in the polls. Britain was tired of 18 years of continuous Conservative rule since 1979 and it led to a more energetic Tony Blair (Labour leader) taking 10 Downing Street from a more reserved John Major in a landslide victory, the worst Conservative loss in almost a century. In the 2001 election, Blair's victory was smaller than in 1997 but still a strong one. In 2005, however, things were a lot closer, Labour only winning the national popular vote by less than 3 points, however, Tony Blair should be thankful for the first past the post system which allowed him to keep a comfortable majority in parliament despite his weak performance in the popular vote. This loss of support was due to several reasons, for example, the Iraq war, which lost them a chunk of their base to the Liberal Democrats and the Respect party. By 2010, the country was going through a recession and thus the ruling Labour Party, now led by the former chancellor, Gordon Brown, was punished by the electorate, leading to its loss. This era of Labour rule from 1997 to 2010 is commonly referred to as New Labour due to its different approach than Labour previously. New Labour appealed to Middle-Class suburban voters in London and nearby by adopting more centrist positions, particularly on the economy. That's unlike Old Labour which primarily focused on winning Working Class votes by its left-wing economic policies. However, the New Labour approach has led to Labour's Working Class base feeling ignored and this has resulted in a large number moving to other parties, particularly the SNP, which swept traditionally Labour-voting Scotland and UKIP which took many English Labour voters. 

Key: 
Dot - Individual poll result
Line - Trendline
Colours - >Red: Labour
              >Blue: Conservative
              >Yellow: Liberal Democrat
              >Gray: Others

Made using Excel.