1935 election United Kingdom general election, 1935 The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...  • MPs MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1935 This is a complete list of Members of Parliament elected to the 37th Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 1935 general election, held on 14 November 1935...

1945 election United Kingdom general election, 1945 The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...  • MPs

1950 election • MPs MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1950 This is a complete list of Members of Parliament elected to the 39th Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 1950 general election, held on 23 February 1950....

1951 election United Kingdom general election, 1951 The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...  • MPs MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1951 This is a complete list of Members of Parliament elected to the 40th Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 1951 general election on 25 October 1951.Notable newcomers to the House of Commons included Anthony Barber, Lord Lambton and Ted Short....

The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five seats over all other parties, and the party called another general election in 1951

United Kingdom general election, 1951

The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...

.

Significant changes since the 1945 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1945

The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...

 included the abolition of plural voting

Plural voting

Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system which does not necessarily involve plural voting...

 by the Representation of the People Act 1948

Representation of the People Act 1948

The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections...

, and a major reorganisation of constituencies by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949

House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949

The House of Commons Act 1949 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provided for the periodic review of the number and boundaries of parliamentary constituencies....

. Eleven new English seats were created, six abolished, and there were over 170 major alterations to constituencies across the country.

Both the Conservative and Labour parties entered the campaign positively. The Conservatives, now having recovered from their heavy election defeat in 1945, accepted most of the nationalisation that had taken place under the Attlee government, (which included the NHS

National Health Service

The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...

 and the mixed economy). The campaign essentially focused therefore on the potential future nationalisation of other sectors and industries, which was supported by the Labour party, and opposed by the Tories. The Liberals

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 essentially viewed the struggle between the two parties on this issue as a class struggle.

This would be the final instance of any Prime Minister or government being re-elected after serving a full term in office until Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

's Conservative government

Thatcher ministry

Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 4 May 1979 and 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative government. She was the first woman to hold that office...

 in 1983

United Kingdom general election, 1983

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

.

Results

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Total votes cast: 28,771,124. All parties shown. Conservative total includes Ulster Unionists.
^* The National Liberal results are sometimes included with the Conservatives, which in this case would bring total Conservative strength to 298 seats; votes total 12,492,404 (43.4%), however, as they were not in government, the total makes little difference.

Votes summary

Seats summary

Manifestos

• This is the Road: The Conservative and Unionist Party's Policy- 1950 Conservative manifesto.
• Let Us Win Through Together: A Declaration of Labour Policy for the Consideration of the Nation - 1950 Labour Party manifesto.
• No Easy Way: Britain's Problems and the Liberal Answers - 1950 Liberal Party manifesto.