1966 United Kingdom general election

none May 2014 May 2014 1966 United Kingdom general election United Kingdom parliamentary no 1964 United Kingdom general election 1964 List of MPs elected in the 1964 United Kingdom general election 1970 United Kingdom general election 1970 List of MPs elected in the 1966 United Kingdom general election All 630 seats in the House of Commons 316 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1966 31 March 1966 35,957,245 27,264,74775.8% (1.3 pp) Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Prime Minister Harold Wilson C2537-5 (cropped)(cropped).jpg 125 120 160 0 0 Harold Wilson 14 February 1963 Labour Party (UK) Huyton 317 seats, 44.1% 364speaker Figure includes Speaker of the House of Commons Horace King in Southampton Itchen. 47 13,096,629 48.0% 3.9 pp Sir Edward Heath.jpg 130 120 160 0 5 Edward Heath 28 July 1965 Conservative Party (UK) Bexley 304 seats, 43.4% 253 51 11,418,455 41.9% 1.5 pp Jo Grimond in 1963 (3x4 crop).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Jo Grimond 5 November 1956 Liberal Party (UK) Orkney and Shetland 9 seats, 11.2% 12 3 2,327,457 8.5% 2.7 pp UK General Election, 1966 (2).svg 200px Colours denote the winning party—as shown in Results File:1966 UK GE Westminster diagram.svg Composition of the House of Commons after the election Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Harold Wilson Labour Party (UK) Harold Wilson Labour Party (UK) Opinion polling for the 1966 United Kingdom general election A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 31 March 1966. The result was a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson. 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 96 seats. This was the last British general election in which the voting age was 21; Wilson's government passed an amendment to the Representation of the People Act in 1969 to include eligibility to vote at the age of 18, which was in place for the next general election in 1970. This was the only election between 1945 and 1997 in which the Labour Party won a workable majority sustainable to last a full term. In the next seven general elections, the Labour Party would win a majority of seats only once (October 1974) and would lose five elections to the Conservatives. none 1959 1964 1966 1970 February 1974 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 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.Thorpe Andrew A History of the British Labour Party http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 Macmillan Education UK London 1997 157 978-0-333-56081-5 10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 none 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 fewer candidates.1966: Wilson gains mandate http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393295.stm BBC News 5 April 2005 26 May 2018 Labour ran its campaign with the slogan "You know Labour government works" and avoided commenting on controversial issues such as European integration, trade unions, and nationalisation. Wilson scheduled speeches around the BBC 8:50 pm news bulletin. As the network broadcast his speeches live, an aide told him when he appeared on camera. Wilson immediately spoke the message he wanted viewers to hear without transition from where he was in the speech, mystifying the local audience. BBC began recording his speeches for later broadcast; a member of the Board of Governors of the BBC said "We couldn't tolerate this news editing by the Prime Minister".Green Timothy https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Business/The-Universal-Eye-Green-1972.pdf The Universal Eye: World Television in the Seventies The Bodley Head 1972 0 370 01356 5 London 82 https://web.archive.org/web/20241221080341/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Business/The-Universal-Eye-Green-1972.pdf 2024-12-21 live The election night was broadcast live on the BBC, was presented by Cliff Michelmore, Ian Trethowan, Robin Day, Robert McKenzie and David Butler. The election was replayed on the BBC Parliament channel on the 40th anniversary of the event,Election replay 1966 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/4858668.stm BBC News 29 March 2006 26 May 2018 and again in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the election.1966 General Election http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076b922 BBC Parliament 26 May 2018 Alastair Burnet hosted ITN's coverage.Joseph Michael 25 Years on ITV https://archive.org/details/25yearsonitv0000unse/page/127/mode/1up?view=theater Independent Television Books Ltd London 1980 127 2025-07-19 0 900727 81 0 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 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 Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, 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: Thursday 10 MarchDissolution of the 43rd Parliament and campaigning officially beginsMonday 21 MarchLast day to file nomination papers; 1,707 candidates enter to contest 630 seatsWednesday 30 March Campaigning officially endsThursday 31 March Polling dayFriday 1 April The Labour Party wins with an improved majority of 96Monday 18 April44th Parliament assemblesThursday 21 AprilState Opening of Parliament Opinion polling Opinion polling for the 1966 United Kingdom general election 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 Research Services: 3% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 101) National opinion polls: 3.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 115) Gallup: 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) Aftermath 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 47 seats. It won 364 seats from 48 per cent of the vote, against 253 seats from 41.4 per cent for the Conservatives and 12 seats from 8 per cent 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 per cent, 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. Although the party would go on to win more seats under Tony Blair in 1997 and 2001, and again under Keir Starmer in 2024, Labour have never since matched the 48% of the popular vote they won in 1966. Results Summary of seats returned + centre|420px PartyBritish Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher 42 Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006 Leader MPs Aggregate votes Of total Of total Labour Party Harold Wilson 364Includes 18 Co-operative Party MP, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance.speaker 364 630 1 yes Labour Party (UK) 13,096,629 48.0% 48.0 Labour Party (UK) Conservative and Unionist Party Edward Heath 253 253 630 1 yes Conservative Party (UK) 11,418,455 41.9% 41.9 Conservative Party (UK) Conservative PartyConservative and Unionist Party results for Great Britain. Edward Heath 239 239 630 1 yes Conservative Party (UK) 10,900,047 40.0% 40.0 Conservative Party (UK) Ulster Unionist Party Terence O'Neill 11 11 630 1 yes Ulster Unionist Party 368,629 1.4% 1.4 Ulster Unionist Party National Liberal Party David Renton 3 3 630 1 yes National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) 149,779 0.5% 0.5 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) Liberal Party Jo Grimond 12 12 630 1 yes Liberal Party (UK) 2,327,457 8.5% 8.5 Liberal Party (UK) Republican Labour Party Gerry Fitt 1 1 630 1 yes Republican Labour Party 26,292 0.1% 0.1 Republican Labour Party Full results centre|500x500px +Results of the March 1966 general election to the House of Commons of the United KingdomPartyhttps://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 41-42 2006LeaderCandidatesMPsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%)   Labour HaroldWilson 622Includes 24 Co-operative Party candidates, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 364Includes 18 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance.speaker 48 1 47Includes 1 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 57.8Includes 2.9% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 13,096,629 Includes 507,372 for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 48.0Includes 1.9% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 3.9Includes 0.1% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance.   Conservative (Total) EdwardHeath 629 253 1 52 51 40.2 11,418,455 41.9 1.5 Conservative Party (UK)Figure includes the Ulster Unionist Party under its nation affiliation with the Conservative Party. EdwardHeath 611 250 1Holland with Boston from the National Liberal Party. 49 48 47.3 11,268,676 41.3 0.9 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) DavidRenton 19 3 0 3 3 0.5 149,779 0.5 0.7   Liberal JoGrimond 311 12 5 2 3 1.9 2,327,457 8.5 2.7   SNP ArthurDonaldson 23 0 0 0 — 128,474 0.5 0.3   IndependentRepublican 5 0 0 0 — 62,782 0.2 0.2   Communist JohnGollan 57 0 0 0 — 62,092 0.2   Plaid Cymru GwynforEvans 20 0 0 0 — 61,071 0.2 0.1   RepublicanLabour GerryFitt 1Leader Gerry Fitt stood in Belfast West. 1 1 0 1 0.2 26,292 0.1   Independent 14 0 0 0 — 23,900 0.1   Nationalist EddieMcAteer 1 0 colspan=3 Did not stand in 1964 — 22,167 0.1   Unity 1 0 colspan=3 New — 14,645 0.1 New   BritishNational JohnBean 3 0 0 0 — 5,182 0.0   Union Movement OswaldMosley 4 0 colspan=3 New — 4,075 0.0 New   IndependentConservative 3 0 0 0 — 3,206 0.0   IndependentLabour 1Candidate William Grant stood in Bootle. 0 0 0 — 1,931 0.0   New Liberal AlanLomas 1Leader Alan Ernest Lomas stood in Islington East. 0 0 0 — 1,127 0.0   Fellowship RonaldMallone 1General Secretary of the Fellowship Party Ronald Mallone stood in Woolwich West. 1 0 0 — 906 0.0   Coalition Unity PeterLowe 1Candidate Peter Lowe stood in Fylde North. 0 colspan=3 New — 826 0.0 New   National Democratic DavidBrown 1Leader David Brown stood in Ipswich. 0 0 0 — 769 0.0   IndependentLiberal 1Candidate Elisa Sheriff stood in Fulham. 0 0 0 — 716 0.0 0.1   TeenageParty DavidSutch 1Candidate David Sutch stood in Huyton. 0 colspan=3 New — 585 0.0 New   Ind. Labour Party EmrysThomas 1Candidate William Hanley stood in Leyton. 0 colspan=3 Did not stand in 1964 — 441 0.0   Social Credit ArchieFrost 1Candidate Archie S. Frost stood in Rugby. 0 0 0 — 397 0.0   Socialist (GB) 2 0 0 0 — 333 0.0   RadicalAllianceRadical Alliance was successor name for the Independent Nuclear Disarmament Election Committee. PatArrowsmith 1Leader Pat Arrowsmith stood in Fulham. 0 0 0 — 163 0.0   Patriotic Party RichardHilton 1Candidate Arthur Rossi Braybrooke stood in Fulham. 0 0 0 — 126 0.0 Blank and invalid votes 49,899https://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 32 8 August 2026 — — Total 1,707 630 0 100.0 27,264,747All valid votes excluding spoiled votes. 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 35,957,245British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 77 0333197348 1976 75.8https://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 1.3 Votes summary Popular vote #ddd 600px 390px Labour Labour Party (UK) 48.04 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 41.88 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 8.54 Others #A9A9A9 1.55 Headline swing: 2.7% to Labour Seats summary Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 390px Labour Labour Party (UK) 57.78 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 40.16 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 1.90 Others #A9A9A9 0.16 Incumbents defeated PartyNameConstituencyOffice held whilst in ParliamentDefeated byPartyConservative Party (UK)Priscilla BuchanAberdeen SouthDonald DewarLabour Party (UK)Forbes HendryAberdeenshire WestJames DavidsonLiberal Party (UK)Geoffrey HoweBebingtonEdwin BrooksLabour Party (UK)Norman ColeBedfordshire SouthGwilym RobertsLabour Party (UK)James KilfedderBelfast WestGerry FittRepublican Labour PartyWilliam Anstruther-GrayBerwick and East LothianChairman of the 1922 CommitteeJohn MackintoshLabour Party (UK)Edward GardnerBillericayEric MoonmanLabour Party (UK)Wyndham DaviesBirmingham Perry BarrChristopher PriceLabour Party (UK)Arthur TileyBradford WestNorman HaseldineLabour Party (UK)Dudley SmithBrentford and ChiswickMichael BarnesLabour Party (UK)Alan HopkinsBristol North EastRaymond DobsonLabour Party (UK)Martin McLarenBristol North WestJohn EllisLabour Party (UK)Donald BoxCardiff NorthTed RowlandsLabour Party (UK)William ShepardCheadleMichael WinstanleyLiberal Party (UK)Patricia Hornsby-SmithChislehurstAlistair MacdonaldLabour Party (UK)Peter ThomasConwyEdnyfed Hudson DaviesLabour Party (UK)James Scott-HopkinsCornwall NorthJohn PardoeLiberal Party (UK)Richard ThompsonCroydon SouthDavid WinnickLabour Party (UK)Anthony MeyerEton and SloughJoan LestorLabour Party (UK)Rolf Dudley-WilliamsExeterGwyneth DunwoodyLabour Party (UK)Henry BrookeHampsteadFormer Home SecretaryBen WhitakerLabour Party (UK)Anthony CourtneyHarrow EastRoy RoebuckLabour Party (UK)David WalderHigh PeakPeter JacksonLabour Party (UK)Godfrey LagdenHornchurchAlan Lee WilliamsLabour Party (UK)Albert CooperIlford SouthArnold ShawLabour Party (UK)Humphry BerkeleyLancasterStan HenigLabour Party (UK)Christopher ChatawayLewisham NorthRoland MoyleLabour Party (UK)Patrick McNair-WilsonLewisham WestJames DickensLabour Party (UK)John BarlowMiddleton and PrestwichDenis CoeLabour Party (UK)Peter ThorneycroftMonmouthFormer Chancellor of the ExchequerDonald AndersonLabour Party (UK)William ClarkNottingham SouthGeorge PerryLabour Party (UK)Montague WoodhouseOxfordEvan LuardLabour Party (UK)Ian Montagu Fraser Plymouth SuttonDavid OwenLabour Party (UK)Terence Clarke Portsmouth WestFrank JuddLabour Party (UK)Julian AmeryPreston NorthFormer Secretary of State for AirRonald AtkinsLabour Party (UK)Peter EmeryReadingJohn LeeLabour Party (UK)Roy WiseRugbyWilliam PriceLabour Party (UK)Martin RedmayneRushcliffeAntony GardnerLabour Party (UK)Peter GriffithsSmethwickAndrew FauldsLabour Party (UK)John Fletcher-CookeSouthampton TestBob MitchellLabour Party (UK)Samuel StoreyStretfordChairman of Ways and MeansErnest DaviesLabour Party (UK)William YatesThe WrekinGerald FowlerLabour Party (UK)Charles CurranUxbridgeJohn RyanLabour Party (UK)John HarveyWalthamstow EastWilliam RobinsonLabour Party (UK)Anthony FellGreat YarmouthHugh GrayLabour Party (UK)Charles LongbottomYorkAlex LyonLabour Party (UK)Labour Party (UK)Patrick DuffyColne ValleyRichard WainwrightLiberal Party (UK)Liberal Party (UK)Roderic BowenCardiganElystan MorganLabour Party (UK)George MackieCaithness and SutherlandRobert MaclennanLabour Party (UK) Televised declarations These declarations were covered live by the BBC where the returning officer was heard to say "duly elected". +From BBC Parliament ReplayConstituencyWinning party 1964Constituency result 1966 by partyWinning party 1966ConLabLibPCSNPOthersCheltenham Conservative Party (UK)22,68319,768 Conservative Party (UK) holdWolverhampton North East Labour Party (UK)12,96521,067 Labour Party (UK) holdWolverhampton South West Conservative Party (UK)21,46614,881 Conservative Party (UK) holdSalford West Labour Party (UK)13,25719,237 Labour Party (UK) holdSalford East Labour Party (UK)9,00018,409 Labour Party (UK) holdExeter Conservative Party (UK)18,61322,1894,869 Labour Party (UK) gainDevon North Liberal Party (UK)15,6316,12716,797 Liberal Party (UK) holdSmethwick Conservative Party (UK)14,55018,440508 Labour Party (UK) gainNelson and Colne Labour Party (UK)13,82918,4065,117 Labour Party (UK) holdLeyton Labour Party (UK)18,15726,8033,851441 Labour Party (UK) recoveryHuyton Labour Party (UK)20,18241,132585 Labour Party (UK) holdBillericay Conservative Party (UK)38,37140,0137,587 Labour Party (UK) gainPreston South Labour Party (UK)17,93120,720 Labour Party (UK) holdBexley Conservative Party (UK)26,37724,0444,405 Conservative Party (UK) holdBrentford and Chiswick Conservative Party (UK)14,03114,6382,063 Labour Party (UK) gainAberdeenshire West Conservative Party (UK)13,9566,00815,151 Liberal Party (UK) gainTaunton Conservative Party (UK)22,35919,2165,460 Conservative Party (UK) holdMonmouth Conservative Party (UK)25,65428,619 Labour Party (UK) gain 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. See also List of MPs elected in the 1966 United Kingdom general election 1966 United Kingdom general election in England 1966 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1966 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1966 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland Notes note References Further reading Bromhead, Peter. "The General Election of 1966". Parliamentary Affairs 19.3 (1966): 332–345. Butler, David E.; King, Anthony. The British General Election of 1966 (1966); the standard scholarly study. Craig F.W.S. F. W. S. Craig British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987 1989 Dartmouth Gower 0900178302 Kavanaugh, Dennis. "1966: An Opportunity Squandered" in Andrew S. Crines, and Kevin Hickson, eds., Harold Wilson: The Unprincipled Prime Minister?: A Reappraisal of Harold Wilson (Biteback Publishing, 2016) pp. 39–56. Pimlott, Ben. Harold Wilson (HarperCollins, 1992) pp. 395–404. Schaffer, B.B. "The British General Election, 1964: A Retrospect", Australian Journal of Politics and History (1965), 11#1 pp. 7–22, 10.1111/j.1467-8497.1965.tb00411.x. External links United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 https://web.archive.org/web/20080223222448/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html 23 February 2008 Manifestos Action Not Words: The New Conservative Programme, 1966 Conservative Party manifesto Time for Decision, 1966 Labour Party manifesto For All the People: the Liberal Plan of 1966, 1966 Liberal Party manifesto 1966 General election Category:Harold Wilson Category:Edward Heath Category:History of the Labour Party (UK)