United Kingdom general election, February 1974

1966 election United Kingdom general election, 1966 The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs... • MPs MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1966 This is a list of members of Parliament elected to the 44th Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 1966 general election, held on 31 March 1966.Notable newcomers to the House of Commons included David Owen, John Nott, Michael Heseltine, Jack Ashley, Donald Dewar, Gwyneth Dunwoody, John Pardoe and...
1970 election United Kingdom general election, 1970 The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their... • MPs MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1970 This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 45th Parliament of the United Kingdom in the 1970 general election held on 18 June 1970.Notable newcomers to the House of Commons included John Prescott, Norman Tebbit, Ian Paisley, John Smith, Neil Kinnock, Kenneth Clarke, John Gummer, Alan...
February 1974 election • MPs
October 1974 election United Kingdom general election, October 1974 The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of... • MPs
1979 election United Kingdom general election, 1979 The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats... • MPs MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1979 This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 48th Parliament of the United Kingdom in the 1979 general election, held on 3 May 1979. This Parliament was dissolved in 1983....

The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections

United Kingdom general elections

This is a list of United Kingdom general elections since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland, before being co-opted to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom, so that Parliament...

held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party, instead producing a hung parliament

Hung parliament

In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...

. The result of the hung parliament came as a total surprise to the three main party leaders, the country (who were confused as to the constitutional process of the unexpected hung parliament) and also to HM Queen Elizabeth II, who was flying back from Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

at the time of the election as many people had expected a Conservative

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...

victory for Edward Heath

Edward Heath

Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....

. The hung parliament resulted in 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...

being the largest overall party with 301 seats (17 seats short of an overall majority) with the Conservatives on 297 seats, although the Conservatives had a larger share of the popular vote.

This election saw Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

diverging heavily from the rest of the United Kingdom, with all twelve MPs elected being from local parties (eleven of them representing unionist parties), following the decision of the Ulster Unionists to withdraw support from the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

in protest over the Sunningdale Agreement

Sunningdale Agreement

The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...

. In contrast the Scottish National Party

Scottish National Party

The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

achieved significant success in this election. They increased their share of the popular vote, in Scotland, from 11% to 22% and their number of MPs rose from 1 to 7. It also saw the first Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru

' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

MPs to be elected in a general election in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

(they had previously won a by-election).

Although the incumbent Conservative government of Edward Heath polled the most votes by a small margin, the Conservatives were overtaken in terms of Commons seats by Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...

's Labour Party due to a more efficiently-distributed Labour vote, and the decision by Ulster Unionist MPs not to take the Conservative whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

.

The two largest parties both lost a considerable share of the popular vote, largely to the Liberals under Jeremy Thorpe

Jeremy Thorpe

John Jeremy Thorpe is a British former politician who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and was the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. His political career was damaged when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had a love affair with Thorpe at a time...

who polled two and a half times the share of the national vote compared to the previous election. But even with over six million votes the Liberals elected only 14 MPs, polling the most votes (~432,823) ever collected by a party for each MP elected in a general election. There had been some media expectation that the Liberals could take twice as many seats.

Heath did not resign immediately as Prime Minister. Assuming that Northern Ireland's unionist MPs could be persuaded to support a Conservative government on confidence matters over one led by Wilson, he entered into negotiations with Thorpe to form a coalition government

Coalition government

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

. Thorpe, never enthusiastic about supporting the Conservatives, demanded major electoral reforms in exchange for such an agreement. Unwilling to accept such terms, Heath resigned and Wilson returned for his second spell as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

.

The fact that the Liberals did not have sufficient seats to be able to support a government led by either major party on their own made the formation of a stable government in this Parliament a practical impossibility. Wilson would call another election

United Kingdom general election, October 1974

The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...

in October of the same year.

The election night was covered live on the BBC, and presented by Alastair Burnet

Alastair Burnet

Sir Alastair Burnet is a British journalist and broadcaster, known for his work in news and current affairs programmes.- Early life :...

, David Butler, Robert McKenzie and Robin Day

Robin Day

Sir Robin Day, OBE was a British political broadcaster and commentator. His obituary in the Guardian stated that "he was the most outstanding television journalist of his generation...

Campaign

Heath's calling of the election was directly influenced by the industrial issues of the time. His call to "return a strong government with a firm mandate" was met with uncertainty. Despite being the shortest post-war election campaign, it could not have been described as a dull occasion. Due to the past economic records of Labour and the Conservatives respectively, many voters seriously considered supporting the Liberals, who saw a significant increase in popularity during the campaign. The Conservative campaign, which had initially focused on industry, got off to shaky start, with a collection of bad reports on prices and inflation. Heath was also in the unique position of not only fighting a political campaign against the other political parties, but also against the National Union of Mineworkers. This not only put the Conservatives in a tight position, but also the Labour party, who had traditional party links with many unions. As a result of this Wilson tried to portray Labour as more of a negotiator. Also to feature in Labour's campaign was the promise of a vote on the UK's membership of the EEC, which Britain had joined in 1972 under Heath.

Economic background

It was the first general election in the United Kingdom to be held during an economic crisis since the 1931 election, which had been held in the depths of the Great Depression.

Timeline

The Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Edward Heath

Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....

announced on the afternoon of 7 February that Parliament would be dissolved on 8 February, for an election to be held on 28 February, using the slogan "Who Governs Britain?". As the Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

was away in New Zealand at the time the Prime Minister notified her of his intentions by telegram rather that the protocol of visiting Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...

. The key dates were as follows:

Friday 8 February	Dissolution of the 45th parliament MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1970 This is a list of Members of Parliament elected to the 45th Parliament of the United Kingdom in the 1970 general election held on 18 June 1970.Notable newcomers to the House of Commons included John Prescott, Norman Tebbit, Ian Paisley, John Smith, Neil Kinnock, Kenneth Clarke, John Gummer, Alan... and campaigning officially begins
Monday 18 February	Last day to file nomination papers; 2,135 candidates enter to contest 635 seats
Wednesday 27 February	Campaigning officially ends
Thursday 28 February	Polling day
Friday 1 March	Election results in a hung parliament with Labour narrowly ahead as the largest single party but short of a majority
Sunday 3 March	Edward Heath begins meetings with Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe to discuss the terms of a potential coalition
Monday 4 March	Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath resigns shortly after the Liberals reject his coalition terms, allowing Harold Wilson to return to power as leader of a Labour minority government Minority government A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
Wednesday 6 March	46th parliament assembles
Tuesday 12 March	State Opening of Parliament State Opening of Parliament In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber, usually in November or December or, in a general election year, when the new Parliament first assembles...

Results

This election was fought on new constituency boundaries with 5 more seats added to the 630 used in 1970. This led to many seats changing hands on the new notional boundaries.

For the first time since 1929

United Kingdom general election, 1929

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

the two largest political parties had received less than a combined share of 80% of the vote, and the Liberals had also won more than 10% of the vote.

|}

All parties are shown.

Government's new majority	- 33
Total votes cast	31,321,982
Turnout	78.8%

Results based on the notional 1970 results on the boundaries which came into force in 1974. The seats won by the Ulster Unionists are compared with those won by Unionist MPs in the 1970 election. The Protestant Unionist Party

Protestant Unionist Party

The Protestant Unionist Party was a unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1966 to 1971. It was set up by Ian Paisley, and was the forerunner of the modern Democratic Unionist Party and emerged from the Ulster Protestant Action movement.The UPA had two councillors elected,...

became the core of the Democratic Unionist Party and their candidates are compared with the result of the Protestant Unionist in 1970. The sole Republican Labour Party

Republican Labour Party

The Republican Labour Party was a political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at Stormont, Harry Diamond and Gerry Fitt...

MP elected in 1970 subsequently left that party to co-found the Social Democrat and Labour Party in 1970 and the remains of the party disintegrated by 1974.

Votes summary

Seats summary

Manifestos

Firm action for a fair Britain - February 1974 Conservative manifesto
Let us work together - Labour's way out of the crisis - February 1974 Labour Party manifesto
Change the face of Britain - Liberal Party manifesto

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