1945 United Kingdom general election in Wales

none 1945 United Kingdom general election in Wales Wales parliamentary no 1935 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1935 List of MPs elected in the 1935 United Kingdom general election 1950 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1950 List of MPs elected in the 1945 United Kingdom general election All 36 Welsh seats to the House of Commons List of MPs elected in the 1945 United Kingdom general election 5 July 1945 75.7% (0.7 pp) Person attlee2.jpg 122 120 160 0 0 Clement Attlee 25 October 1935 Labour Party (UK) Limehouse 18 seats,fn2 Combined results for county, borough and university seats. 45.4% 25fn2 7fn2 779,184fn1 Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only. 58.5%fn1 13.1 ppfn1 The Air Ministry, 1939-1945. CH10270 – Edit 1.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Archibald Sinclair 26 November 1935 Liberal Party (UK) Caithness and Sutherland (lost seat) 7 seats,fn2 18.0% 7fn2 fn2 198,553fn1 14.9%fn1 3.1 ppfn1 Sir Winston Churchill - 19086236948 (cropped2).jpg 130 120 160 0 3 Winston Churchill 9 October 1940 Conservative Party (UK) Churchill Caretaker Ministry Woodford 6 seats,fn2 23.4% 3fn2 3fn2 241,380fn1 18.1%fn1 5.3 ppfn1 BrownErnest (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Ernest Brown 1940 Liberal National Churchill Caretaker Ministry Leith (lost seat) 3 Seats,fn2 4.1% 1fn2 2fn2 64,043 4.8%fn1 0.7 ppfn1 On Thursday 5 July 1945, the 1945 United Kingdom general election was held in Wales, to elect all 640 members of the House of Commons, with 36 constituencies being in Wales. 35 seats represented territorial constituencies contested under the first past the post electoral system, and one additional seat represented the University of Wales which was also contested under the first past the post electoral system.https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04458/ Research Briefing: Voting systems in the UK 10 January 2023 Library of the House of Commons 7 August 2026 This was the final election in which the University of Wales had a seat to the House of Commons, due to it being abolished for the 1950 general election by the Representation of the People Act 1948. Held less than two months following VE Day, this was the first general election since 1935, as general elections had been suspended by Parliament during the Second World War. Clement Attlee, the leader of the Labour Party, refused Winston Churchill's offer of continuing the wartime coalition until the Allied defeat of Japan. On 15 June, King George VI dissolved Parliament, which had been sitting for nearly ten years without an election. Counting for the election was not completed until 26 July (three weeks after polling day) to enable those stationed overseas to vote.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge45.shtml Politics 97: 5 July 1945 BBC 11 August 2026 As it was the first general election held since the conclusion of the Second World War and nearly 10 years since the 1935 general election, it was the first of three elections during the reign of King George VI. Candidates Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1945 general election in Wales, excluding those in the University of Wales constituency.https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7529/CBP-7529.pdf UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections Cracknell Richard Uberoi Elise Burton Matthew 9 August 2023 House of Commons Library 23 8 August 2026https://api.parliament.uk/uk-general-elections/general-elections/28 UK General Elections Results 1832-2019 12 August 2026Craig F. W. S. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–49 https://books.google.com/books?id=MMCuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 1st 1977 The Macmillan Press Ltd London and Basingstoke 978-1-349-81467-1 Affiliation CandidatesLabour Party 34Conservative Party 21Liberal Party 17Plaid Cymru 6Liberal National Party 5National 1Secretary of State for War James Grigg stood in Cardiff East.Communist Party of Great Britain 1Harry Pollitt, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, contested the seat of Rhondda East for the second time. Pollitt polled second in the seat within 1,000 votes of the Labour Party incumbent William Mainwaring. Independent Labour 1Candidate Samuel Jennings stood in Merthyr.Independent 1Candidate John Rathbone Hayes-Jones stood in Wrexham.Total 87 Analysis The election saw the Labour party win the most votes and seats in Wales, increasing its seat count to 25. Much like the rest of the United Kingdom, Labour gained seats primarily from the Conservative Party. In Wales, the Labour Party won Newport, Llandaff and Barry, Cardiff East and Cardiff South from the Conservatives. The party also won Swansea West from the Liberal National Party and Cardiff Central from the National Labour. National Labour had been dissolved in June 1945 and therefore did not contest the seat, with the incumbent Member of Parliament Ernest Bennett retiring from Parliament. Finally, Labour retained Brecon and Radnorshire which it had initially won in the 1939 Brecon and Radnorshire by-election from the National Member of Parliament Ivor Guest. Guest had resigned the seat in 1939 following his succession of a viscountcy title and corresponding life peerage in the House of Lords. The Labour retention in Brecon and Radnorshire represented gain compared to previous election. For the Liberal Party in Wales during the election, the overall seat total for the Liberal Party was unchanged overall. The Independent Liberals had rejoined the Liberal Party in 1935, after the previous election. Labour won Caernarvonshire from the reunited Liberal Party. The seat had been held by Goronwy Owen, who was one of the Liberal Independents that had rejoined the Liberal Party in 1935. The Liberals also lost Caernarvon Boroughs to the Conservative Party. Notably, David Lloyd George retired from Carnarvon Boroughs before the election, taking up a peerage in the House of Lords; however, he subsequently died in March 1945. This caused the 1945 Caernarvon Boroughs by-election with the Liberals retaining it against Plaid Cymru initially, however the seat was ultimately taken by the Conservative Party in this election. It was the first time the Conservative Party had won the seat since losing it in the 1890 Caernarvon Boroughs by-election, when Lloyd George had won the seat; however, the Conservatives would lose the seat again to Labour in 1950. Conversely, the Liberal party won Carmarthen from the Labour Party, which was the seat loss for Labour in Wales and one of only three seat losses across the United Kingdom in the election. The other two losses occurred in England in Hammersmith North and Mile End. In addition, Liberal National Party member Clement Davies returned to the Liberal Party, and won his Montgomeryshire for the Liberals, representing a gain from the Liberal Nationals. Davies would go on become Leader of the Liberal Party a month after the general election, following the defeat of leader Archibald Sinclair in his seat in Scotland at this election. The Liberal party also again retained its seat in the University of Wales constituency. Notable figures who entered Parliament in this election in Welsh constituencies include future Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister James Callaghan. County and borough constituency results Below is a table summarising the constituency results of the 1945 general election in Wales, excluding the result in the University of Wales constituency. The seat count and vote share comparisons for the Churchill Caretaker Ministry coalition are compared with the National Government coalition which had effectively dissolved in 1940. +Partyhttps://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7529/CBP-7529.pdf UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections Cracknell Richard Uberoi Elise Burton Matthew 9 August 2023 House of Commons Library 22-23 8 August 2026Craig F. W. S. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–49 https://books.google.com/books?id=MMCuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 1st 1977 The Macmillan Press Ltd London and Basingstoke 978-1-349-81467-1SeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%)   Labour 25 8 1 7 71.4 779,184 58.5 13.1   Churchill Caretaker Ministry (Total) 4 1 8 7 11.4 316,729 23.8 9.8 Conservative Party (UK) 3 1David Price-White in Caernarvon Boroughs. 4 3 8.6 241,380 18.1 5.3 Liberal National Party (UK, 1931) 1 0 2 2 2.9 64,043 4.8 0.7   National 0 0 1Ivor Guest in Brecon and Radnorshire. 1 — 11,306 0.9 3.2 National Labour Organisation 0 colspan="2" Dissolved 1 — 0 0.0 1.9   Liberal 6 2 2 17.2 198,553 14.9 3.1   Communist 0 0 0 — 15,761 1.2 0.4   Plaid Cymru 0 0 0 — 14,321 1.1 0.8   Independent Labour 0 colspan="3" Did not stand in 1935 — 5,693 0.4   Independent 0 colspan="3" Did not stand in 1935 — 430 0.0 Total 35 0 100.0 1,330,671 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 1,798,199Including the electorate in uncontested constituencies. 75.7https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7529/CBP-7529.pdf UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections Cracknell Richard Uberoi Elise Burton Matthew 9 August 2023 House of Commons Library 29 8 August 2026 0.7 Popular vote Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 58.5 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 18.1 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 14.9 Liberal National National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) 4.8 National #CCCCCC 0.8 Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru 1.1 Other #777777 1.7 Popular vote (coalitions) #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 58.5 Caretaker Gov. #000000 23.8 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 14.9 Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru 1.1 Others #A9A9A9 1.7 Parliament seats Parliament seats #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 71.4 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 17.2 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 8.6 Liberal National National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) 2.9 Parliament seats (coalitions) #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 71.4 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 17.2 Caretaker Gov. #000000 11.4 University of Wales result Below is a table summarising the 1945 constituency results for seat of the University of Wales constituency. The Liberal Party retained from the previous election and 1943 University of Wales by-election, bringing the total Liberal Party seats to seven out of the possible 36. General election 1945: University of Wales Liberal Party (UK) William John Gruffydd 5,239 75.5 +14.2 Plaid Cymru Gwenan Jones 1,696 24.5 +2.0 3,543 51.0 +27.4 6,935 58.5 -3.8 Liberal Party (UK) See also 1945 United Kingdom general election in England 1945 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1945 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland List of MPs for constituencies in Wales (1945–1950) Notes References Politics Wales United Kingdom Category:1945 in Wales Category:1940s elections in Wales 1945 #Wales