October 1974 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members of the House of Commons. It was the second general election held that year; the first year in which two general elections had been held in the same year since 1910; and the first time that two general elections had been held less than a year apart from each other since the 1923 and 1924 elections, which took place 10 months apart.

The election resulted in a narrow victory for the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, which won a wafer-thin majority of three seats, the narrowest in modern British history. It was to remain the last general election victory for the Labour Party until 1997, with the Conservative Party winning majorities in the next four general elections. It would also be the last time Labour won more seats at a national election than the Conservatives until the 1989 European Parliament election. This remains the most recent general election that Labour made net gains in seats whilst in government.

The narrowness of the majority meant that the Labour government saw a gradual loss of its majority by 1977 through a series of by-election losses and defections, thus requiring deals with the Liberals, the Ulster Unionists, the Scottish Nationalists and the Welsh Nationalists. It led to the eventual defeat of the government in a no-confidence motion in March 1979, six months before the mandatory dissolution of Parliament was set to take place.

This election was held just seven months after the previous general election, held in February 1974, had led to a hung parliament, with Labour winning 301 seats and the Conservatives left with 297. Following the inconclusive nature of coalition talks between the Conservatives and other parties such as the Liberals and the Ulster Unionists, the Labour Leader Harold Wilson went on to form a minority government.

The October campaign was not as vigorous or exciting as the one in February. Despite continuing high inflation, Labour boasted that it had ended the miners' strike, which had dogged Heath's premiership, and had returned some stability. The Conservative Party, led by Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister Edward Heath, released a manifesto promoting national unity, but its chances of forming a government were hindered by the Ulster Unionist Party refusing to take the Conservative whip at Westminster in response to the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973.

Both the Conservatives and the Liberals saw their vote share decline, and Heath, who had lost three of the four elections that he contested, was ousted as Conservative leader in February 1975 and replaced with future Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The Scottish National Party won 30% of the Scottish popular vote and 11 of Scotland's 71 seats in the party's most successful general election result until 2015.

The election was broadcast live on the BBC and was presented by David Butler, Alastair Burnet, Robert McKenzie, Robin Day and Sue Lawley.,

Since Jeremy Thorpe's death in December 2014, this is the latest election where all the three major party leaders have died.

Campaign The brief period between the elections gave Wilson the opportunity to demonstrate reasonable progress. Despite high inflation and high balance-of-trade deficits, the miners' strike, which had dogged Heath was over, and some stability had been restored. After the February election, Heath had remained largely out of the public eye.

As was expected, the campaign was not as exciting as the one in February, and overall coverage by broadcasters was significantly scaled back. The Conservatives campaigned on a manifesto of national unity in response to the mood of the public. Labour campaigned on its recent successes in government, and although the party was divided over Europe, the party's strengths outweighed that of Heath, who knew that his future relied on an election victory. Devolution was a key issue for the Liberals and the Scottish National Party, and it was now one that the two main parties also felt the need to address. The Liberals did not issue a new manifesto but simply reissued the one they had created for the last election.

Timeline Prime Minister Harold Wilson's decision to call a general election on 10 October was reported in the newspapers that were dated back to 9 September. The announcement was made through a ministerial broadcast on television on 18 September to announce that the election would be held on 10 October, less than eight months since the previous election. The key dates were as follows: Friday 20 SeptemberDissolution of the 46th Parliament and campaigning officially beginsMonday 30 SeptemberLast day to file nomination papersWednesday 9 October Campaigning officially endsThursday 10 October Polling dayFriday 11 October The Labour Party wins control with a majority of 3 Tuesday 22 October47th Parliament assemblesTuesday 29 OctoberState Opening of Parliament

Results Labour achieved a swing of 2% against the Conservatives. It was the first time since 1922 that a government had won an overall majority with less than 40% of the vote, albeit a majority of only three seats. The Conservatives won just under 36% of the vote, their worst share since 1918. A slight drop in the Liberals' vote saw them suffer a net loss of one seat. In Scotland, the Scottish National Party added another 4 seats to their successes in the previous election and became the fourth-largest party.

Turnout was 72.8%, which was a significant decline on the February election's 78.8% turnout.

Summary of seats returned

+ Party Leader MPs Aggregate votes Of total Of total Labour Party Harold Wilson 319 11,457,079 39.3% Conservative and Unionist Party Edward Heath 277 10,462,565 35.8% Liberal Party Jeremy Thorpe 13 5,346,704 18.3% Scottish National Party William Wolfe 11 839,617 2.9% Ulster Unionist Party Harry West 6 256,065 0.9% Plaid Cymru Gwynfor Evans 3 166,321 0.6% Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party William Craig 3 92,262 0.3% Social Democratic and Labour Party Gerry Fitt 1 154,193 0.5% Democratic Unionist Party Ian Paisley 1 59,451 0.2% Independent Republican 1 32,795 0.1%

Full results

+Results of the October 1974 general election to the House of Commons of the United KingdomPartyLeaderCandidatesMPsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%)   Labour HaroldWilson 623 319 19 1 18 50.2 11,457,079 39.3 5.9   Conservative EdwardHeath 622 277 2 22 20 43.6 10,462,565 35.8 2.1   Liberal JeremyThorpe 619 13 0 1 1 2.1 5,346,704 18.3 1.0   SNP WilliamWolfe 71 11 4 0 4 1.7 839,617 2.9 0.9   UUP HarryWest 7 6 0 1 1 0.9 256,065 0.9 0.2   Plaid Cymru GwynforEvans 36 3 1 0 1 0.5 166,321 0.6 0.1   SDLP GerryFitt 9 1 0 0 0.2 154,193 0.5   NationalFront JohnKingsley Read 90 0 0 0 — 113,843 0.4 0.2   VanguardUnionist WilliamCraig 3 3 0 0 0.5 92,262 0.2 0.1   DUP IanPaisley 2 1 0 0 0.2 59,451 0.2   Alliance OliverNapier 5 0 0 0 — 44,644 0.2 0.1   IndependentRepublican 1 1 1 0 1 0.2 32,795 0.1 0.1   IndependentLabour 3 0 0 1 1 — 30,578 0.1   RepublicanClubs TomásMac Giolla 5 0 0 0 — 21,633 0.1   Unionist Party NI BrianFaulkner 2 0 0 0 — 20,454 0.1 0.2   Communist JohnGollan 29 0 0 0 — 17,426 0.1   DemocraticLabour DickTaverne 1 0 0 1 1 — 13,714 0.1   NILabour AlanCarr 3 0 0 0 — 11,539 0.0 0.1   Independent 18 0 0 0 — 7,073 0.0 0.1   IndependentUnionist 1 0 colspan=3 — 4,982 0.0   UnitedDemocratic JamesTippett 13 0 colspan=3 — 4,810 0.0   More Prosperous Britain TomKeen 25 0 0 0 — 4,434 0.0   WorkersRevolutionary GerryHealy 10 0 0 0 — 3,404 0.0   VolunteerPolitical KenGibson 1 0 colspan=3 — 2,690 0.0   IndependentConservative 2 0 0 0 — 2,646 0.0   IndependentLiberal 2 0 0 0 — 2,558 0.0 0.1   IrishCivil Rights 7 0 colspan=3 — 2,381 0.0   PEOPLE TonyWhittaker 5 0 0 0 — 1,996 0.0   Ind. Labour Party EmrysThomas 2 0 0 0 — 1,335 0.0   Marxist-Leninist(England) JohnBuckle 8 0 0 0 — 1,320 0.0   UnitedEnglish National 1 0 colspan=3 — 793 0.0   EnglishNational FrankHansford-Miller 2 0 0 0 — 723 0.0   WhigParty 1 0 colspan=3 — 719 0.0   IndependentEnglish Nationalist 1 0 colspan=3 — 547 0.0   LabourDemocrat 1 0 0 0 — 558 0.0   Marxist–Leninist(Ireland) CaroleReakes 3 0 colspan=3 — 540 0.0   WorldMiddle Classes 1 0 colspan=3 — 457 0.0   IndependentBritish Nationalist 1 0 colspan=3 — 451 0.0   ChristianParty 1 0 colspan=3 — 408 0.0   MebyonKernow RichardJenkin 1 0 0 0 — 384 0.0   Go toBlazes 1 0 colspan=3 — 351 0.0   BritishCandidate 1 0 colspan=3 — 342 0.0   Women'sRights 1 0 colspan=3 — 298 0.0   Anti-EEC 1 0 0 0 — 287 0.0   PeoplePower 1 0 colspan=3 — 266 0.0   United KingdomFront 1 0 colspan=3 — 256 0.0   GayLiberal 1 0 colspan=3 — 223 0.0   Labour-ConservativeCoalition 1 0 colspan=3 — 192 0.0   ProtestParty 1 0 colspan=3 — 171 0.0   Fine Gael(Scotland) 1 0 colspan=3 — 155 0.0   SocialCredit 1 0 0 0 — 137 0.0   Anti-PartySystem 1 0 colspan=3 — 148 0.0   Socialist (GB) 1 0 colspan=3 — 118 0.0   Air Road<br/ >Public Safety WilliamBoaks 1 0 colspan=3 — 68 0.0 Blank and invalid votes 37,706 — — Total 2,252 635 0 100.0 29,189,104 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 40,072,971 72.8 6.0

Votes summary

Seats summary

Results by voter characteristics +Ethnic group voting intentionEthnic groupPartyLabourConservativeOtherEthnic minority (non-White)81%9%10%Asian78%12%n/aAfro-Caribbean79%6%n/a

Incumbents defeated PartyNameConstituencyOffice held whilst in ParliamentYear electedDefeated byPartyJock Bruce-GardyneAngus South1964Andrew WelshMichael AncramBerwick and East LothianFeb 1974John MackintoshHarold GurdenBirmingham Selly Oak1955Tom LitterickRobert RedmondBolton West1970Ann TaylorMartin McLarenBristol North West1970Ronald ThomasMichael FidlerBury and Radcliffe1970Frank WhiteBarry HendersonEast DunbartonshireFeb 1974Margaret BainJames AllasonHemel Hempstead1959Robin CorbettTom IremongerIlford North1954 by-electionMillie MillerErnle MoneyIpswich1970Ken WeetchTom BoardmanLeicester SouthChief Secretary to the Treasury (1974)1967 by-electionJim MarshallJack d'Avigdor-GoldsmidLichfield and Tamworth1970Bruce GrocottDavid WaddingtonNelson and Colne1968 by-electionDoug HoyleMontague WoodhouseOxford1970Evan LuardIan MacArthurPerth and East Perthshire1959Douglas CrawfordHarmar NichollsPeterborough1950Michael WardPeggy FennerRochester and ChathamParliamentary Under-Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1972–1974)1970Robert BeanRonald BrayRossendale1970Michael NobleJames HillSouthampton Test1970Bryan GouldPiers DixonTruro1970David PenhaligonRobert LindsayWelwyn and HatfieldMinister of State for Foreign Affairs (1972–1974)1955Helene HaymanGwynoro JonesCarmarthen1970Gwynfor EvansPaul TylerBodmin, CornwallFeb 1974Robert HicksMichael WinstanleyHazel GroveFeb 1974Tom ArnoldChristopher MayhewElected as a Labour MPWoolwich East (contested Bath)1951 by-electionEdward BrownEddie MilneBlyth1960 by-electionJohn RymanEdward GriffithsSheffield Brightside1968 by-electionJoan MaynardHarry WestFermanagh and South TyroneLeader of the Ulster Unionist Party (1974 –1979)Feb 1974Frank MaguireDick TaverneLincolnFinancial Secretary to the Treasury (1969–1970)1962 by-electionMargaret Jackson

See also List of MPs elected in the October 1974 United Kingdom general election October 1974 United Kingdom general election in England October 1974 United Kingdom general election in Scotland October 1974 United Kingdom general election in Wales October 1974 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland Labour government, 1974–1979

Notes

References

Further reading the standard scholarly study

External links United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979

Manifestos Putting Britain First, October 1974 Conservative Party manifesto Britain Will Win With Labour, October 1974 Labour Party manifesto Why Britain Needs Liberal Government, October 1974 Liberal Party manifesto