Francis Urquhart won the election.
The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 1 May 1997, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons. The election resulted in the sixth consecutive victory of the Conservative Party and second under the leadership of Francis Urquhart. It also resulted in the abdication of The King, who had campaigned on behalf of the opposition Labour Party.
The press projected a hung parliament with Labour being in slight advantage; however, the Conservatives managed to gain a majority that was above the 326 required seats, but did not receive a landslide victory. The Conservatives won with a 22-seat overall majority. Urquhart's consistency of New Forest was abolished for the election, when the New Forest East and New Forest West seats were created using its remaining components, with Urquhart being elected as the MP for both consistencies.