The October 1974 United Kingdom general election took place on Thursday 10 October 1974 to
elect 635 members of the
British House of Commons. It was the second general election held that year, the first year that two general elections were held in the same year since 1910, and the first time that two general elections were held less than a year apart from each other since the
1923
Events
January–February
* January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).
* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...
and
1924 elections, which took place 10 months apart. The election resulted in the
Labour Party led by
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 ...
winning a bare majority of just 3 seats. This enabled the remainder of the
Labour government, 1974–1979 to take place, which saw a gradual loss of its majority.
The
election of February that year had produced an unexpected
hung parliament
A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...
. Coalition talks between the
Conservatives and other parties such as the
Liberals and the
Ulster Unionists failed, allowing Labour leader
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 ...
to form a
minority government. The October campaign was not as vigorous or exciting as the one in February. Despite continuing high
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, Labour was able to boast that it had ended the miners' strike, which had dogged Heath's premiership, and had returned some stability. The Conservative Party, still led by
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
, released a manifesto promoting national unity; however, its chances of forming a government were hindered by the Ulster Unionist Party refusing to take the Conservative
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...
at Westminster, in response to the
Sunningdale Agreement of 1973.
The Conservatives and the Liberals each saw their vote share decline, and Conservative Party leader
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
, who had lost three of the four elections he contested, was ousted as party leader in February 1975 and replaced with future Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
. The
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
won 30% of the Scottish popular vote and 11 of Scotland's 71 seats; it was their most successful general election result until
2015.
Subsequently, Labour's narrow parliamentary majority had disappeared by 1977 through a series of
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...
losses and defections. It then required deals with the Liberals, the Ulster Unionists, the Scottish Nationalists and the
Welsh Nationalists.
This was the last general election victory for the Labour Party until
1997; each of the next four consecutive general elections produced a Conservative parliamentary majority. It would also be the last time Labour won more seats at a national election than the Conservatives until the
1989 European Parliament election
The 1989 European Parliament election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states
A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation.
Since the Wor ...
.
The election was broadcast live on the BBC, and was presented by
David Butler,
Alastair Burnet,
Robert McKenzie,
Robin Day and
Sue Lawley.
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 that had dogged Heath was over and some stability had been restored. Following 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, their strengths outweighed that of Heath, who knew his future relied on an election victory.
Devolution was a key issue for the Liberals and the Scottish National Party, and was now one that the two main parties also felt the need to address. The Liberals did not issue a new manifesto, simply reissuing the one they had created for the last election.
Timeline
Prime Minister
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 ...
made 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:
Results
Labour achieved a swing of 2% against the Conservatives. This 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 3. The Conservatives won just under 36% of the vote, their worst share since
1918
This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide.
Events
Below, the events ...
; and a slight drop in the Liberal vote saw them suffer a net loss of 1 seat. In Scotland, the SNP added another 4 seats to their successes in the previous election to become the 4th largest party. Turnout was 72.8%, which was a significant decline on the February election's 78.8% turnout.
, -
, + style="caption-side: bottom; font-weight:normal" , All parties shown.
Votes summary
Seats summary
Incumbents defeated
See also
*
Labour government, 1974–1979
*
*
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979
Manifestos
October 1974 Conservative Party manifesto
October 1974 Labour Party manifesto
October 1974 Liberal Party manifesto
{{DEFAULTSORT:1974 10 United Kingdom general election
General elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom
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 ( ...
October 1974 events in the United Kingdom
Harold Wilson
Edward Heath