The 1970 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 18 June 1970. It resulted in a surprise victory for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

under leader Edward Heath, which defeated the governing Labour Party under

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 ...

. The Liberal Party, under its new leader Jeremy Thorpe, lost half its seats. The Conservatives, including the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), secured a majority of 30 seats. This general election was the first in which people could vote from the age of 18, after passage of the Representation of the People Act the previous year, and the first UK election where party, and not just candidate names were allowed to be put on the ballots. Most opinion polls prior to the election indicated a comfortable Labour victory, and put Labour up to 12.4% ahead of the Conservatives. On election day, however, a late swing gave the Conservatives a 3.4% lead and ended almost six years of Labour government, although Wilson remained leader of the Labour Party in opposition. Writing in the aftermath of the election, the political scientist

Richard Rose Richard Rose may refer to: * Richard Rose (mystic) (1917–2005), American mystic, esoteric philosopher, author, poet, and investigator of paranormal phenomena *Richard Rose (political scientist) (born 1933), American political scientist and profess ...

described the Conservative victory as "surprising" and noted a significant shift in votes between the two main parties. '' The Times'' journalist George Clark wrote that the election would be "remembered as the occasion when the people of the United Kingdom hurled the findings of the opinion polls back into the faces of the pollsters". The result would provide the mandate for Heath as Prime Minister to begin formal negotiations for the United Kingdom to become a member state of the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...

(EC)—or the "Common Market" as it was more widely known at the time, before it later became the European Union; the UK officially joined the EC on 1 January 1973, along with the Republic of Ireland and Denmark. Frontbench Labour politicians

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

and Jennie Lee were voted out at this election. This marked the end of a series of elections where both main parties won over 40% of the vote. This would not occur again for the Conservatives for nine years; Labour would wait 27. This was also the most recent election at which a House of Commons majority for one party immediately before election day was replaced by a Commons majority for a different party on election day. The result was cast as a two-party politics outcome, with no third party reaching 10% of the (total) vote. Such an outcome would not happen again until the 2017 election. The election was the last in which a nationwide UK party gained seats in Northern Ireland. The UUP sat with the Conservative Party at Westminster, traditionally taking the Conservative parliamentary

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 e ...

. To all intents and purposes the UUP functioned as the Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party. However, hardline unionist

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First ...

unseated the UUP incumbent in North Antrim, a clear sign that the UUP's complete dominance over unionist politics in Northern Ireland was already starting to weaken. In 1972, in protest over the permanent prorogation of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, Westminster UUP MPs withdrew from the alliance.

Election date

The date of 18 June was supposedly chosen because

wanted as Prime Minister to go to the polls before the introduction of decimal coinage in early 1971, for which his government had been responsible and which he thought was hugely unpopular, and because Wilson sought to gain some momentum by surprising the Conservatives, who were expecting an October election.

Overview

Commentators believed that an unexpectedly bad set of balance of payments figures (a £31-million trade deficit) published three days before the election and a loss of national prestige after the England football team's defeat by West Germany on 14 June in the World Cup contributed to the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

defeat.

Other factors that were cited as reasons for the Conservative victory included union indiscipline, rising prices, the risk of devaluation, the imposition of

Selective Employment Tax Selective Employment Tax (SET) was a weekly payroll tax in the United Kingdom. It was levied against employers at a flat rate of per man, and per woman. SET was intended to subsidise manufacturing industry from the proceeds of the services ind ...

(SET), and a set of jobless figures released on final week of the campaign showing unemployment at its highest level since 1940. Interviewed by Robin Day, the outgoing Prime Minister

highlighted the possibility that "complacency engendered by the opinion polls" may have resulted in a poor turnout of Labour supporters. As defending world champions, England's venture in the World Cup attracted a much keener public interest than the general election did. However an analysis by pollster Matt Singh for the 50th anniversary of the election concluded that the late swing had been caused by the weak economic data and that there was "no evidence" that the World Cup had influenced the outcome. American pollster Douglas Schoen and Oxford University academic

R. W. Johnson R. W. Johnson (born 1943; Richard William, "Bill" ) is a British journalist, political scientist, and historian who lives in South Africa. Born in England, he was educated at Natal University and Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar. He was a ...

asserted that Enoch Powell had attracted 2.5 million votes to the Conservatives, although the Conservative vote only increased by 1.7 million. Johnson later stated "It became clear that Powell had won the 1970 election for the Tories ... of all those who had switched their vote from one party to another, 50 per cent were working class Powellites". The Professor of Political Science

Randall Hansen Randall Hansen is a political scientist and historian at the University of Toronto, where he has held a Canada Research Chair in Political science, Political Science since 2005. He is the Director of the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian ...

assessed a range of studies, including some which contended that Powell had made little or no difference to the result, but concluded that "At the very least, Powell's effect was likely to have fired up the Conservative vote in constituencies which would have voted Tory in any event". Election night commentators Michael Barratt and Jeffrey Preece dismissed any special "Powell factor", as did Conservative MPs Reginald Maudling, Timothy Raison and Hugh Dykes. The 1970–74 Parliament has to date been the only time since the 1924–29 Parliament in which the Conservative Party were only in government for one term before returning to opposition. The most notable casualty of the election was

, deputy leader of the Labour Party, who lost to the Conservative candidate in the

Belper Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. As well as Belper itself, the parish also includes the village of Milford and the ha ...

constituency. Brown had held the seat since 1945. Labour Minister for the Arts, Jennie Lee lost her Cannock seat, held by Labour since

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

on a swing of 10.7% to the Conservatives in what

called "the biggest upset" of the election. Unusually for the Liberal Party, the by-elections between 1966 and 1970 had proved almost fruitless, with many Liberal candidates losing deposits. The one exception was its by-election gain of Birmingham Ladywood in June 1969; this was promptly lost in the 1970 general election. The party found itself struggling to introduce its new leader Jeremy Thorpe to the public, owing to the extensive coverage and attention paid to Enoch Powell. The election result was poor for the Liberals, with Thorpe only narrowly winning his own seat in

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

. Indeed, of the six MPs returned, three (Thorpe, David Steel and

John Pardoe John Wentworth Pardoe (born 27 July 1934) is a retired British businessman and Liberal Party politician. He was Chairman of Sight and Sound Education Ltd from 1979 to 1989. Early life and education Pardoe was the son of Cuthbert B. Pardoe and ...

) were elected by a majority of less than 1,000 votes. The BBC's election coverage was led by Cliff Michelmore, along with Robin Day, David Butler and Robert McKenzie. There were periodic cutaways to the BBC regions. This coverage has been rerun on BBC Parliament on several occasions, including on 18 July 2005 as a tribute to Edward Heath after his death the previous day. Its most recent screening was on the 20th of June 2020, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its first transmission. The BBC coverage was parodied by ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known ...

'' in its famous "

Election Night Special "Election Night Special" is a Monty Python sketch comedy, sketch parodying the coverage of United Kingdom general elections, specifically the 1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 general election, on the BBC by including hectic (and downrig ...

" sketch. Both BBC and

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...

carried their 1970 election night broadcasts in colour, although segments broadcast from some remote locations and some BBC and ITN regional bureaus were transmitted in black-and-white. Some

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

regions were not yet broadcasting in colour at the time of the 1970 elections.

Timeline

The Prime Minister,

, visited

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 18 May and asked the Queen to

dissolve Parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...

on 29 May, announcing that the election would be held on 18 June. The key dates were as follows:

Opinion poll summary

Summary of the final polling results before the general election.

Results

This was the first general election where 18-year-olds had the right to vote. Therefore, despite 1.1 million more people voting in 1970 compared to 1966, turnout actually fell by 3%. This 72% turnout was the lowest since the 1935 general election and compared with a post-War high of 84% in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

. Professor Richard Rose described the low turnout, which he noted was "one of the lowest since the introduction of the democratic franchise", as surprising to politician and pollsters. Changes to electoral law as part of the

Representation of the People Act 1969 The Representation of the People Act 1969 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This statute is sometimes known as the Sixth Reform Act. The Act lowered the voting age to 18. The United Kingdom was the first major democratic country ...

had made postal voting easier and polling stations were open an hour later than in past elections, and this would have been expected to improve turnout. On top of this it was reported by Rose that an estimated 25% of 18- to 21-year-olds who were now eligible to vote had not put their names on the electoral register, meaning the turnout was even lower than the percentage figure suggested. Rose also argued that the turnout figures in Britain were "now among the lowest in the Western world." Because the previous election had been in 1966, some people had not had their chance to vote in a general election until the age of 25. Labour's number of votes, 12.2 million, was ironically the same amount they had needed to win in 1964. The Conservative vote surge cost Labour in many marginal seats. Rose suggested the absolute fall in the number of Labour votes suggested that many of the party's supporters had decided to abstain. He also noted that the Labour Party's local organisation was poorer than that of the Conservatives, but did not feel this was a significant factor in Labour supporters failing to come out to vote for the Party given that this organisational difference had been the case in past elections without having this effect. For the Liberals, a small 1% drop in their vote share saw them lose 6 seats, 3 of which were held by the narrowest of margins. In the end the Conservatives achieved a swing of 4.7%, enough to give them a comfortable working majority. As for the smaller parties, they increased their number in the Commons from 2 to 6 seats. 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 its first-ever seat at a general election (they had won several by-elections previously, going back as far as

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

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

Votes summary

Seats summary

Televised declarations

These declarations were covered live by the BBC where the returning officer was heard to say "duly elected".

Incumbents defeated

Labour

* Donald Dewar ( Aberdeen South) * Edwin Brooks (

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 Peninsula. Ne ...

) *

Brian Parkyn Brian Stewart Parkyn (28 April 1923 – 22 March 2006) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Early years Parkyn was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School (Chelmsford), King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, and at t ...

( Bedford) * Gwilym Roberts ( South Bedfordshire) *

(

), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party * Eric Moonman ( Billericay) * Christopher Price (

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 ...

) *

Ioan Evans Ioan Evans may refer to: * Ioan Evans (politician) Ioan Lyonel Evans (10 July 1927 – 10 February 1984) was a British politician. He served as a Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 until his death. ...

(

Birmingham Yardley Birmingham Yardley is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Jess Phillips of the Labour Party. Yardley Rural District was annexed to Birmingham under the 1911 ...

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of t ...

* Robert Howarth ( Bolton East) *

Gordon Oakes Gordon James Oakes (22 June 1931 – 15 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life Oakes was born in Widnes, Cheshire, and was educated at Wade Deacon Grammar School, in Widnes and at Liverpool University. A solicitor by p ...

(

Bolton West Bolton West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Chris Green, a Conservative. Constituency profile The seat is on the outskirts of Greater Manchester with fields making for separate villages ...

) * Woodrow Wyatt ( Bosworth) *

Norman Haseldine (Charles) Norman Haseldine (25 March 1922 – 16 October 1998) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. Born in Sheffield, he served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Bradford West (UK Parliament constituenc ...

(

Bradford West Bradford West is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom gene ...

) * Colin Jackson (

Brighouse and Spenborough Brighouse and Spenborough was a parliamentary constituency in the West Riding of Yorkshire, comprising the two municipal boroughs of Brighouse and Spenborough and neighbouring areas. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Com ...

) *

Dennis Hobden Dennis Harry Hobden (21 January 1920 – 20 April 1995) was a British Labour Party politician. Hobden was a postal and telegraph worker who became an officer in the Union of Post Office Workers. Before being selected to contest the Brighton Kemp ...

(

Brighton Kemptown Brighton Kemptown, often referred to as Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven by local political parties, is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour Co-op MP. The constit ...

) *

Raymond Dobson Raymond Francis Harvey Dobson (26 April 1925 – 22 September 1980) was a British trade union official, politician and airline company executive. Dobson went to Purbrook Park School in Portsmouth. He joined the Labour Party in 1947 and had a car ...

( Bristol North East), Assistant Whip *

John Ellis John Ellis may refer to: Academics *John Ellis (scrivener) (1698–1791), English political writer *John Ellis (naturalist) (1710–1776), English botanical illustrator *John Ellis (physicist, born 1946), British theoretical physicist at CERN * Jo ...

( Bristol North West) * Robert Maxwell (

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

) * Jennie Lee ( Cannock), Minister for the Arts *

Ted Rowlands Edward Rowlands, Baron Rowlands (born 23 January 1940) is a Welsh politician, who served as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament for over thirty years, including a period as a junior minister in the 1960s and 1970s. Educatio ...

( Cardiff North) * Alistair Macdonald (

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

) *

Ednyfed Hudson Davies Gwilym Ednyfed Hudson-Davies (4 December 1929 – 11 January 2018), known as Ednyfed Hudson Davies, was a Welsh politician and Member of Parliament (MP). He was born in Llanelli, the son of Ebenezer Curig Davies and his wife Enid (née Hughes). Th ...

( Conway) * David Winnick ( Croydon South) *

Sydney Irving Sydney Irving, Baron Irving of Dartford PC (1 July 1918 – 18 December 1989) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. Irving was educated at Pendower School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the London School of Economics. He was a school teache ...

(

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

), Chairman of Ways and Means *

David Ennals David Hedley Ennals, Baron Ennals, (19 August 1922 – 17 June 1995) was a British Labour Party politician and campaigner for human rights. He served as Secretary of State for Social Services from 1976 to 1979. Early life and military career ...

(

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Minister of State for Social Services The Minister of State for Social Care is a mid-level position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the Government of the United Kingdom, British government. It is held by Helen Whately Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP who took ...

Stan Newens Arthur Stanley Newens (4 February 1930 – 2 March 2021) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1983, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1984 to 1999. Born ...

(

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

) * Gwyneth Dunwoody (

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 ...

), Parliamentary Secretary at the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

John Dunwoody John Elliot Orr Dunwoody CBE (3 June 1929 – 26 January 2006) was a British Labour politician. Dunwoody was educated at St Paul's School, then trained as a doctor at King's College London, and Westminster Hospital Medical School. A surgeon, ...

(

Falmouth and Camborne Falmouth and Camborne was, from 1950 until 2010, a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. History ...

) * Terence Boston ( Faversham) * John Diamond ( Gloucester),

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...

* Albert Murray (

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

), Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport * Benjamin Whitaker (

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

), Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Overseas Development The minister of state for development and Africa, formerly the minister of state for development and the secretary of state for international development, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The off ...

Roy Roebuck Roy Delville Roebuck (born 25 September 1929) is a British Labour Party politician and journalist. He was the Member of Parliament for Harrow East from 1966 to 1970. Early life Roebuck was born in Manchester in September 1929. He served in th ...

( Harrow East) *

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

( High Peak) *

Alan Lee Williams Alan Lee Williams OBE (born 29 November 1930) is a former president of the Atlantic Treaty Association, a United Kingdom, British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, writer and visiting professor of politics at Queen Mary University of L ...

(

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

) *

Arnold Shaw Arnold Shaw may refer to: * Arnold Shaw (politician) (1909–1984), British politician * Arnold Shaw (writer) (1909–1989), American music writer {{hndis, Shaw, Arnold ...

(

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 ...

) * Sir Dingle Foot ( Ipswich), Solicitor General for England and Wales * John Binns ( Keighley) * John Page (

Kings Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

) * Stanley Henig ( Lancaster) * Harold Davies (

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the Prime Minister *

James Dickens James McCulloch York Dickens (4 April 1931 – 5 April 2013) was a British Labour politician. Dickens was born in a Glasgow tenement. He attended Shawlands Academy and left aged 14, completing his education later at Newbattle Abbey College ...

( Lewisham West) * William Howie ( Luton),

Jeremy Bray Jeremy William Bray (29 June 193031 May 2002) was a British Labour politician and a Member of Parliament for 31 years. Early life and education Bray was born in British Hong Kong, the son of Reverend Arthur Bray, a Methodist missionary. He ...

( Middlesbrough West) *

Dennis Coe Denis Walter Coe (5 June 1929 – 3 March 2015) was a British Labour Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the marginal Middleton and Prestwich constituency from 1966 to 1970, when it was gained by the Conservative Alan Hase ...

( Middleton and Prestwich) * Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea (

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. I ...

) *

Bert Hazell Bertie Hazell, CBE (18 April 1907 – 11 January 2009), also known as Bert Hazell, was a British Labour Party politician and trade union activist. The son of a Norfolk farm worker, he left school at 14 to work on a farm in Wymondham, where hi ...

(

Norfolk North Norfolk North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867, which divided the county of Norfo ...

) * George Perry (

Nottingham South Nottingham South is a constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, represented since 2010 by Lilian Greenwood of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament Since 2010, the seat has been represented by Lilian Greenwood, who succeede ...

) * John Horner ( Oldbury and Halesowen) *

Evan Luard David Evan Trant Luard (31 October 1926 – 8 February 1991), most commonly known as Evan Luard, was a British Labour Party and Social Democratic Party (SDP) politician, and a renowned international relations scholar. Education and early care ...

( Oxford) * Ronald Atkins ( Preston North) * Peter Mahon ( Preston South) * John Lee ( Reading) * Anne Kerr (

Rochester and Chatham Rochester and Chatham was a parliamentary constituency in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. It larg ...

) *

Antony Gardner Antony (Tony) John Gardner (27 December 192716 October 2011) was a British Labour Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1966 to 1970. A son of a gardener who worked in Dorset, Gardner was educated at an elementary school and ...

( Rushcliffe) *

Frank Hooley Frank Oswald Hooley (30 November 1923 – 21 January 2015) was an English Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Political career Hooley contested Skipton (UK Parliament constituency), Skipton at the 1959 United Kingdom general election, 19 ...

(

Sheffield Heeley Sheffield Heeley is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2015 by Louise Haigh, ...

) * Bob Mitchell (

Southampton Test Southampton Test is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Alan Whitehead, a member of the Labour Party. History The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two-m ...

) * Arnold Gregory ( Stockport North) * Ernest Davies (

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. Str ...

) * Gerald Fowler ( The Wrekin) * John Ryan ( Uxbridge) * Malcolm Macmillan ( Western Isles) *

Hugh Gray Hugh Gray (19 April 1916 – 1 April 2002) was a British Labour Party politician and lecturer at the University of London. In 1966 he defeated the Conservative incumbent Anthony Fell to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yarmouth until 1 ...

(

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

)

Conservative

* Kenneth Baker (

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

), by-election win * Donald Williams ( Dudley), by-election win *

Esmond Wright Esmond Wright (5 November 1915, Newcastle upon Tyne – 9 August 2003, Masham, North Yorkshire) was an English historian of the United States, Director of the Institute of United States Studies at the University of London from 1971 to 1983, a tel ...

( Glasgow Pollok), by-election win *

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film ''Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low ...

(

Oldham West Oldham West was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham in the north-west of Greater Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament ...

), by-election win *

Christopher Ward Christopher Ward may refer to: * Christopher Ward (British politician) (born 1942), British solicitor and Conservative Party politician * Christopher Ward (conductor) (born 1980), British conductor * Christopher Ward (entomologist) (1836–1900), ...

(

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

), by-election win *

Fred Silvester Frederick John Silvester (born 20 September 1933) is a retired British Conservative Party politician. Silvester contested the Walthamstow West parliamentary constituency in 1966; he was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) at the Walthamstow ...

(

Walthamstow West Walthamstow West was a borough constituency in what is now the London Borough of Waltham Forest, but was until 1965 the Walthamstow Urban District of Essex. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of t ...

), by-election win

Liberal

* Wallace Lawler ( Birmingham Ladywood), by-election win *

Michael Winstanley Michael Platt Winstanley, Baron Winstanley (27 August 1918 – 18 July 1993) was the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheadle from 1966 to 1970 and, after boundary changes, for Hazel Grove, a newly created seat comprising half his former ...

( Cheadle) * Richard Wainwright ( Colne Valley) *

Eric Lubbock Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury (29 September 1928 – 14 February 2016), was an English politician and human rights campaigner. He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Orpington from 1962 to 1970. He then served in the House o ...

( Orpington), Liberal Chief Whip *

Alasdair Mackenzie Alasdair Roderick Mackenzie (3 August 1903 – 8 November 1970) was a Scottish farmer and politician who became a Liberal Party Member of Parliament. A Gaelic speaker, he went to Broadford Junior Secondary School on the Isle of Skye. He became a ...

(

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

)

Ulster Unionist Party

Henry Clark Henry Clark may refer to: Politicians * Henry Toole Clark (1808–1874), Governor of North Carolina, 1861–1862 * Henry Selby Clark (1809–1869), U.S. Representative from North Carolina * Henry A. Clark (New York politician) (1818–1906), New ...

( Antrim North) * James Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton ( Fermanagh and South Tyrone)

Scottish National Party

* Winnie Ewing (

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

), by-election win

Plaid Cymru

* Gwynfor Evans ( Carmarthen), by-election win

Democratic Party

Desmond Donnelly Desmond Louis Donnelly (16 October 1920 – 3 April 1974) was a British politician, author and journalist who was a member of four political parties during the course of his career, and moved between parties on five occasions. Origins Donn ...

(

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

), former Labour MP

Notes

References

External links

United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979

Manifestos

''A Better Tomorrow''
1970 Conservative Party manifesto

1970 Labour Party manifesto

1970 Liberal Party manifesto {{Edward Heath

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

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