The 1966 United Kingdom general election was held on 31 March 1966. The result was a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

for the Labour Party led by incumbent

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

. Wilson decided to call a snap election since his government, elected a mere 17 months previously, in 1964, had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs. The Labour government was returned following this snap election with a much larger majority of 98 seats. This was the last general election in which the voting age was 21; Wilson's government passed an amendment to the

Representation of the People Act Representation of the People Act is a stock short title used in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Pakistan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and To ...

in 1969 to include eligibility to vote at age 18, which was in place for the next general election in 1970.

Background

Prior to the 1966 general election, Labour had performed poorly in local elections in 1965, and lost a by-election, cutting their majority to just two. Shortly after the local elections, the leader of the Conservative Party

Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative politician who s ...

was replaced by Edward Heath in the 1965 leadership election. Despite setbacks and a small majority, Labour believed it had an advantage due to the disorientation from the change of leadership at the Conservative Party, the improvement of economic conditions under its brief government, and a victory at the

1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election The Kingston upon Hull North by-election of 27 January 1966 was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Henry Solomons on 7 November 1965. The seat was retained with an increased majority by Kevin McNamara of the Labour Party. ...

. The Conservatives had not had much time to prepare their campaign, although it was more professional than previously. There had been little time for Heath to become well known among the British public, having led the party for just eight months before the election. For the Liberal Party, money was an issue: two elections in the space of just two years had left the party in a tight financial position and had to field less candidates. Labour ran its campaign with the slogan "You know Labour government works" and avoided commenting on controversial issues such as European integration,

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

, and

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

. The election night was broadcast live on the BBC, was presented by

Cliff Michelmore Arthur Clifford Michelmore (11 December 1919 – 16 March 2016) was an English television presenter and producer. He is best known for the BBC television programme ''Tonight'', which he presented from 1957 to 1965. He also hosted the BBC's tel ...

, Ian Trethowan, Robin Day, Robert McKenzie and David Butler. The election was replayed on the

BBC Parliament BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliam ...

channel on the 40th anniversary of the event, and again in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the election. Although the BBC's telecast was in black and white, a couple of colour television cameras were placed in the BBC election studio at Television Centre to allow CBS's Charles Collingwood and NBC's

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkl ...

to file live reports from that studio by satellite and in colour for their respective networks' evening news programmes (which were transmitted at 11:30 pm British time, 6:30 pm Eastern Standard Time).

Timeline

The

, announced on 28 February that Parliament would be dissolved on 10 March, for an election to be held on 31 March. The key dates were as follows:

Opinion polling

* Research Services: 3% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 101) * National opinion polls: 3.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 115) *

Gallup Gallup may refer to: * Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll * Gallup (surname), a surname *Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States ** Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New ...

: 4.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 150) * Express (known as Harris): 7.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of in excess of 255)

Results

The Labour Party performed very well in the election and expanded its previously slim majority against the Conservative opposition to 97 seats, accomplishing a net gain of 48 seats. It won 364 seats from 48 percent of the vote, against 253 seats from 41.4 percent for the Conservatives and 12 seats from 8 percent for the Liberals. A major reason for the Labour victory was the revitalization of the party's working-class support in the 1960s. It captured its highest support yet from manual laborers at 69 percent, as well as its best performance for non-manual laborers since 1945. The government also appealed to both the right wing of the party with its cabinet dominated by junior ministers of the Attlee ministry as well as the left wing by the presence of officials such as Prime Minister Wilson, Richard Crossman, Barbara Castle, and Frank Cousins. 1966 UK parliament

, - , + style="caption-side: bottom; font-weight:normal" , All parties shown.

Votes summary

Seats summary

Incumbents defeated

Conservative

* Priscilla Buchan, Lady Tweedsmuir ( Aberdeen South) * Forbes Hendry ( West Aberdeenshire) * Geoffrey Howe (

Bebington Bebington () is a town and unparished area within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it lies south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsul ...

) * Norman Cole ( South Bedfordshire) * Sir William Anstruther-Gray, 1st Baronet (

Berwick and East Lothian Berwick and East Lothian was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first past the post system. History The constituency was created in 1950 and abol ...

), Chairman of the 1922 Committee * Edward Gardner ( Billericay) *

Wyndham Davies Wyndham Roy Davies (3 June 1926 – 4 December 1984) was a British Conservative Party politician. Against the national trend, he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr at the 1964 general election, gaining the seat fr ...

(

Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Perry Barr is a constituency in the West Midlands, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Khalid Mahmood of the Labour Party. Constituency profile UK Polling Report stated in 2015: "Perry Barr and p ...

) *

Arthur Tiley Arthur Tiley (17 January 1910 – 5 June 1994) was a British businessman and Conservative and National Liberal politician. Upon the re-creation of the Bradford West constituency in 1955, Tiley was elected as its Member of Parliament. He held th ...

(

Bradford West Bradford West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Naz Shah of the Labour Party. Constituency profile Bradford West covers the city centre, Manningham, Allerton and Clayton. It has a sig ...

) * Dudley Smith ( Brentford and Chiswick) * Alan Hopkins ( Bristol North East) *

Martin McLaren Major Martin John McLaren (11 January 1914 – 27 July 1979) was a British soldier and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. He was the son of Hon. Francis McLaren, Liberal Party (UK), Liberal MP for Spalding (UK Parliament const ...

( Bristol North West) *

Donald Box Donald Stewart Box (22 November 1917 – 12 July 1993) was a Welsh stockbroker and Conservative politician. Early and military career Born in Cardiff, Box was educated at The Cathedral School, Llandaff, St John's School in Pinner, and Ha ...

( Cardiff North) * William Shepard ( Cheadle) * Dame Patricia Hornsby-Smith ( Chislehurst) * Peter Thomas ( Conwy) *

James Scott-Hopkins Sir James Sidney Rawdon Scott-Hopkins (29 November 1921 – 11 March 1995) was a British Conservative politician. Born in Croydon, Scott-Hopkins was educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford. He joined the British Army in 1939. He w ...

( North Cornwall) * Sir Richard Thompson, 1st Baronet ( Croydon South) * Sir Anthony Meyer ( Eton and Slough) *

Sir Rolf Dudley-Williams, 1st Baronet Sir Rolf Dudley Dudley-Williams, 1st Baronet (17 June 1908 – 8 October 1987), born Rolf Dudley Williams, was a British aeronautical engineer and Conservative Party politician. Royal Air Force career Williams was born in Plymouth, son of ma ...

(

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

) * Henry Brooke (

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

), former Secretary of State for the Home Department * Anthony Courtney ( Harrow East) *

David Walder Alan David Walder (13 November 1928 – 26 October 1978) was a British Conservative Party politician. Born in St Pancras, London, Walder was educated at Latymer School and Christ Church, Oxford. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 19 ...

( High Peak) * Godfrey Lagden ( Hornchurch) * Albert Cooper (

Ilford South Ilford South is a constituency created in 1945 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Sam Tarry of the Labour Party. Constituency profile The seat covers Ilford town centre and the surrounding suburbs, and the ...

) *

Humphry Berkeley Humphry John Berkeley (21 February 192614 November 1994) was a British politician and author. He was noted for his three changes of parties and his early support for gay rights. He is also remembered for a series of hoax letters he sent as fic ...

( Lancaster) *

Christopher Chataway Sir Christopher John Chataway (31 January 1931 – 19 January 2014) was a British middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and Conservative politician. Education He was born in Chelsea, London, the son of James Denys ...

( Lewisham North) *

Patrick McNair-Wilson Sir Patrick Michael Ernest David McNair-Wilson (born 28 May 1929) is a British former Conservative Member of Parliament and consultant. Early life and career McNair-Wilson is the son of Dr Robert McNair-Wilson. He was educated at Eton College ...

( Lewisham West) *

Sir John Barlow, 2nd Baronet Sir John Denman Barlow, 2nd Baronet (15 June 1898 – 5 January 1986) was a British Conservative Party politician, and before that was a British Liberal Party member. Barlow was the son of Sir John Barlow, 1st Baronet, and his wife the Hon. A ...

( Middleton and Prestwich) * Peter Thorneycroft (

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

), former

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

* William Clark ( Nottingham South) * Montague Woodhouse (

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) *

Ian Montagu Fraser Ian Montagu Fraser (14 October 1916 – 8 November 1987) was a British Conservative party politician. Fraser stood for Tottenham in 1955 and was defeated. In the run-up to the 1959 general election he tried to win the Conservative nominatio ...

( Plymouth Sutton) * Terence Clarke ( Portsmouth West) * Julian Amery ( Preston North), former Secretary of State for Air * Peter Emery (

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

) *

Roy Wise Alfred Roy Wise (7 July 1901 – 21 August 1974) was a British Conservative Party politician and was the Member of Parliament for the constituencies of Rugby and Smethwick . Biography He was born on 7 July 1901 to Alfred Gascoyne Wise and Augus ...

(

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

) * Sir Martin Redmayne, 1st Baronet ( Rushcliffe) * Peter Griffiths (

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider b ...

) * Sir John Fletcher-Cooke ( Southampton Test) * Sir Samuel Storey, 1st Baronet (

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. S ...

), Chairman of Ways and Means * William Yates ( The Wrekin) * Charles Curran (

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

) *

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

( Walthamstow East) * Anthony Fell (

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

) * Charles Longbottom ( City of York)

Labour

* Patrick Duffy (

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

)

Liberal

* Roderic Bowen ( Ceredigion) * George Mackie ( Caithness and Sutherland)

Televised declarations

These declarations were covered live by the BBC where the returning officer was heard to say "duly elected". * The 5,117 votes polled for the "Others" in Nelson and Colne were all polled for Patrick Downey, uncle of Lesley Ann Downey, who had been murdered by the Moors Murderers. Downey advocated the return of hanging.

Notes

References

External links

United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979

Manifestos

1966 Conservative Party manifesto

1966 Labour Party manifesto

1966 Liberal Party manifesto {{Edward Heath 1966

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Harold Wilson Edward Heath