1966 United Kingdom general election in England

none 1966 United Kingdom general election in England England parliamentary no 1964 United Kingdom general election in England 1964 List of MPs elected in the 1964 United Kingdom general election 1970 United Kingdom general election in England 1970 List of MPs elected in the 1966 United Kingdom general election All 511 English seats in the House of Commons 75.9% ( 1.1 pp) List of MPs elected in the 1970 United Kingdom general election 31 March 1966 Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Prime Minister Harold Wilson C2537-5 (cropped)(cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Harold Wilson 14 February 1963 Labour Party (UK) Huyton 246 seats, 43.5% 286speaker 40 10,886,408 48.0% 4.5 pp Sir Edward Heath (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Edward Heath 28 July 1965 Conservative Party (UK) Bexley 262 seats, 44.1% 219 43 9,692,356 42.7% 1.4 pp Jo Grimond in 1963 (3x4 crop).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Jo Grimond 5 November 1956 Liberal Party (UK) Orkney and Shetland 3 seats, 12.1% 6 3 2,036,793 9.0% 3.1 pp On Thursday 31 March 1966, the 1966 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 630 members of the House of Commons, with 511 constituencies being in England. The election took place only 17 months after the 1964 United Kingdom general election, with incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson deciding to call a snap election since his government had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs. Combined with results from across the UK, the result was a landslide victory for Wilson's Labour Party. It was the last election at which the National Liberal Party stood candidates, before merging with its allies the Conservative Party in 1968. Candidates Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1964 general election in England.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 21 8 August 2026https://api.parliament.uk/uk-general-elections/general-elections/34 UK General Elections Results 1832-2019 12 August 2026British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 41 2006Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections 1885-1974 F.W.S. Craig The Macmillan Press 1349023485 1975 Affiliation CandidatesLabour Party 511speakerConservative Party 501Liberal Party 273Communist Party of Great Britain 34Independent 13National Liberal Party 9Union Movement 4The candidates that stood were Jeffrey Hamm in Birmingham Handsworth, Dennis Herbert Harmston in Islington South West, Frank T. Hamley in Manchester Ardwick and Leader Oswald Mosley in Shoreditch and Finsbury.Independent Conservative 3The candidates that stood were Jane Ellis in Scarborough and Whitby, Christopher G Clayton-Wright in Stratford-on-Avon and Edward Moloney in Worthing.British National Party 3The candidates that stood were Gerald Rowe in Deptford, R. Stanley in Smethwick and John Bean in Southall.Fellowship Party 1Candidate Ronald Mallone stood in Woolwich West.Independent Labour 1Candidate William Grant stood in Bootle.Independent Liberal 1Candidate Elisa Sheriff stood in Fulham.New Liberal 1Candidate Alan Ernest Lomas stood in Islington East.National Democratic Party 1Candidate David R. M. Brown stood in Ipswich.Patriotic Party 1Candidate Arthur Rossi Braybrooke stood in Fulham.Radical Alliance 1Candidate Pat Arrowsmith stood in Fulham.Social Credit Party 1Candidate Archie S. Frost stood in Rugby.Socialist Party of Great Britain 1Candidate Harry Baldwin stood in Hampstead.Independent Labour Party 1Candidate William Hanley stood in Leyton.Coalition Unity 1Candidate Peter Lowe stood in Fylde North.National Teenage Party 1Candidate David Edward Sutch stood in Huyton.Total 1,363 Analysis The incumbent Labour Party led by Prime Minister Harold Wilson won 286 seats in England, its second-highest tally of seats at the time. On the other hand, the Conservative Party, and its constituency allies the National Liberals, led by Edward Heath won only 216 seats, its lowest share of seats since the 1945 general election. It was also only the second time that the Labour Party had won more seats than the Conservatives in England since 1945. The National Liberal Party only stood candidates in England at this election, with party losing all its seats in Scotland and Wales in 1964. Three of its MPs retained seats in England at this election, however it lost three of the six seats it had in the previous election. These were of Julian Ridsdale in Harwich, David Renton in Huntingdonshire and John Nott in St Ives. However, it lost the seat of Holland with Boston to its ally the Conservative Party, with National Liberal MP Herbert Butcher retiring from Parliament, and Conservative Richard Body winning the seat. It also lost Bristol North East and Bradford West to the Labour Party. The three remaining National Liberals resolved to formally merge with the Conservative Party after the election in 1968. The Labour Party won an overall 40 seats from the Conservatives and National Liberal Party in England, though Patrick Duffy lost Colne Valley to Richard Wainwright of the Liberal Party. The Labour party would, however, regain the seat from the Liberal Party in the 1970 general election. The Liberal Party also won Cheadle and North Cornwall from the Conservative Party. It was the only election between 1945 and 1997 general election in which the Labour Party won a majority of seats in England. Concurrently, this was the only election between 1945 and 1997 in which the Labour Party got a working majority in the House of Commons sufficient to last a full term in office (In 1950, 1964 and October 1974, the Labour majority was 5, 4 and 3 seats respectively). Results +PartyBritish Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 26 0333197348 1976 SeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%)   Labour 286speaker Figure includes Speaker of the House of Commons Horace King in Southampton Itchen. 41 1 40 55.8 10,886,408 48.0 4.5   Conservative (Total) 219 1 44 43 42.9 9,692,356 42.7 1.4 Conservative Party (UK) 216 1 41 40 50.1 9,542,577 42.1 1.0 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) 3 0 3 3 1.2 149,779 0.7 0.2   Liberal 6 3 0 3 1.2 2,036,793 9.0 3.1   Communist 0 0 0 — 33,093 0.1   Independent 0 0 0 — 23,384 0.1   British National 0 0 0 — 5,182 0.0   Union Movement 0 colspan=3 Did not stand in 1964 — 4,075 0.0   Ind. Conservative 0 0 0 — 3,206 0.0   Independent Labour 0 colspan=3 Did not stand in 1964 — 1,931 0.0   New Liberal 0 0 0 — 1,127 0.0   Fellowship 0 0 0 — 906 0.0   Coalition Unity 0 colspan=3 New — 826 0.0 New   National Democratic 0 0 0 — 769 0.0   Independent Liberal 0 0 0 — 716 0.0 0.1   National Teenage Party 0 colspan=3 New — 585 0.0 New   Ind. Labour Party 0 0 0 — 441 0.0  Social Credit 0 0 0 — 397 0.0   Socialist (GB) 0 0 0 — 211 0.0   Radical AllianceRadical Alliance was successor name for the Independent Nuclear Disarmament Election Committee. 0 0 0 — 163 0.0   Patriotic Party 0 0 0 — 163 0.0 Total 511 0 100.0 22,692,695 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 29,894,141 75.9https://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 1.1 Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 48.0 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 42.7 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 9.0 Other #777777 0.3 Parliament seats #ddd 600px 410px Labour Labour Party (UK) 55.97 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 42.85 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 1.17 By region Note: the following tables indicate the results according to the regions of England which were established in 1994, based on the county boundaries established in the 1974 local government reforms. These regions were not used at the time for the purposes of this election. East Midlands Parliamentary constituencies in the East Midlands + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Labour Party (UK) 27 3 0 3 71.1 52.7 4.5 Conservative Party (UK) 11 0 3 3 28.9 41.2 1.0 Liberal Party (UK) 0 0 0 0.0 6.1 3.4   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 Total 38 East of England Parliamentary constituencies in the East of England + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Conservative Party (UK) 26 0 5 5 63.4 45.7 0.7 Labour Party (UK) 15 5 0 5 36.6 44.9 4.1 Liberal Party (UK) 0 0 0 0.0 9.3 3.4   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 Total 41 Greater London Parliamentary constituencies in London + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Labour Party (UK) 65 12 0 12 63.7 49.0 4.6 Conservative Party (UK) 36 0 12 12 35.3 41.0 1.4 Liberal Party (UK) 1 0 0 1.0 9.3 3.2   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.7 Total 102 North East England Parliamentary constituencies in North East England + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Labour Party (UK) 27 0 0 87.1 63.1 4.6 Conservative Party (UK) 4 0 0 12.9 34.5 3.0 Liberal Party (UK) 0 0 0 0.0 2.0 1.9   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.4 0.3 Total 31 North West England Parliamentary constituencies in North West England + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Labour Party (UK) 57 5 0 5 68.7 50.4 4.5 Conservative Party (UK) 25 0 6 6 30.1 41.5 1.6 Liberal Party (UK) 1 1 0 1 1.2 7.6 3.0   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.4 Total 83 South East England Parliamentary constituencies in South East England + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Conservative Party (UK) 48 0 5 5 78.7 49.0 1.4 Labour Party (UK) 13speaker 5 0 5 21.3 36.4 3.7 Liberal Party (UK) 0 0 0 0.0 14.4 2.4   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.2 0.1 Total 61 South West England Parliamentary constituencies in South West England + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Conservative Party (UK) 31 0 5 5 68.9 45.6 0.2 Labour Party (UK) 11 5 0 4 24.4 38.0 4.4 Liberal Party (UK) 3 1 0 1 6.7 16.2 4.3   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.2 0.3 Total 45 West Midlands Parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Labour Party (UK) 32 4 0 4 59.3 50.8 5.6 Conservative Party (UK) 22 0 4 4 40.7 44.7 2.1 Liberal Party (UK) 0 0 0 0.0 4.1 3.7   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.4 0.1 Total 54 Yorkshire and the Humber Parliamentary constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber + Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Change (%) Labour Party (UK) 39 3 1 2 69.6 54.9 5.5 Conservative Party (UK) 16 0 3 3 28.6 37.3 2.1 Liberal Party (UK) 1 1 0 1 1.8 7.5 3.5   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.3 0.1 Total 56 See also 1966 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland 1966 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1966 United Kingdom general election in Wales Notes References Further reading Thorpe, Andrew (1997). A History of the British Labour Party Butler, David E., and Anthony King. The British General Election of 1966 (1966) Bromhead, Peter. "The General Election of 1966". Parliamentary Affairs 19.3 (1966): 332–345. Politics England United Kingdom #England General Election Category:1960s in England 1966