Blair victorious, Major concedes & Ashdown celebrates.  In 1997 Labour ended 18 years in the political wilderness in spectacular style. The party returned to power with a parliamentary landslide, winning the biggest majority held by any government since 1935. Tony Blair’s New Labour had gained a staggering 179-seat overall majority in the Commons as the Conservatives were tossed aside by the voters. The election also saw the Liberal Democrats put in a remarkable performance, more than doubling their number of MPs despite taking a reduced share of the vote compared with 1992. In the election's aftermath, commentators speculated whether it was at all possible for the Conservatives to overturn such a huge majority in a single election. UK General Election History 1950-2005.