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In politics, a landslide victory (or just a landslide) is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming majority in an election. Landslides can occur when one candidate or party is perceived as far superior to their opponents, through unfair elections, or as a result of particular voting systems which may produce distorted or disproportionate results. See bloc voting, and the unanimous 2002 re-election of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, criticised by external observers as fraudulent. The opposite of a landslide is a wipeout. Canada Hong Kong United Kingdom In general, any British general election which results in a majority of over 100 seats tends to be described as a landslide. Notable examples include: Labour's general election victory in 2001 with an overall majority of 167 was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. Though the Government did score a very high majority, public interest in the election was not excited and, unlike most of the landslide results listed above, there was little change from the previous election and no change of governing party. Landslides are relatively common in British electoral history, and this is partly as a result of the first-past-the-post electoral system. Relatively small differences in numbers of popular votes cast be amplified by the eventual result (for instance, Labour achieved a 66-seat majority in 2005 despite securing only 35% of the vote); conversely, parties can poll very highly and achieve disproportionately low numbers of MPs. In 1992, for example, sitting Conservative Prime Minister John Major polled more votes than any party leader before or since, but was returned with a precarious majority of just 21. Popular votes Electoral votes | |||||||
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