1951 United Kingdom general election

none May 2014 September 2020 1951 United Kingdom general election United Kingdom parliamentary no 1950 United Kingdom general election 1950 List of MPs elected in the 1950 United Kingdom general election 1955 United Kingdom general election 1955 List of MPs elected in the 1951 United Kingdom general election All 625 seats in the House of Commons 313 25 October 1951 34,919,331 28,596,59482.6% (1.3 pp) Churchill in 1944 (cropped 3x4).jpg 125 120 160 2 0 Winston Churchill 9 October 1940 Conservative Party (UK) Woodford 298 seats, 43.4% 321speaker Figure includes Speaker of the House of Commons Douglas Clifton Brown in Hexham. 23 13,717,851 48.0% 4.6 pp Clement Attlee (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Clement Attlee 25 October 1935 Labour Party (UK) Walthamstow West 315 seats, 46.1% 295 20 13,948,385 48.8% 2.7 pp Clement Davies (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Clement Davies 2 August 1945 Liberal Party (UK) Montgomeryshire 9 seats, 9.1% 6 3 730,546 2.6% 6.5 pp UK General Election, 1951.svg 200px Colours denote the winning party—as shown in Results File:1951 UK GE Composition diagram - national liberal.svg Composition of the House of Commons after the election Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Clement Attlee Labour Party (UK) Winston Churchill Conservative Party (UK) Opinion polling for the 1951 United Kingdom general election A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 25 October 1951, just twenty months after the previous general election in 1950; the Labour government called the election in hopes of increasing its parliamentary majority. However, this backfired, as even though Labour won the most votes, it was the Conservatives who won a majority.Jenkin Thomas P. 1952 The British General Election of 1951 https://www.jstor.org/stable/442551 The Western Political Quarterly 5 1 51–65 10.2307/442551 442551 0043-4078 subscription Up to that point, the Labour Party achieved the most votes cast for a party; however, this would be surpassed several times, with the Conservatives breaking the record in 1992 and 2019. (13,948,385 is also the highest number of votes Labour ever won in a general election.) The Conservatives would also exceed the popular vote percentage (48.8%) achieved by Labour, in 1955 and 1959, winning over 49% in both cases. Turnout in this election declined slightly. The election marked the return of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister and the beginning of Labour's 13-year spell in opposition. It was the third and final general election to be held during the reign of King George VI, as he died the following year on 6 February and was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II. It was also the last election in which the Conservatives did better in Scotland than in England, and the final election with Winston Churchill as leader of the Conservative Party. The 1951 election was the second one to be covered on BBC Television. On election night, the results were televised from the BBC Alexandra Palace studio in London. Graham Hutton, David Butler and H. G. Nicholas headed the election night coverage from 10.15pm to 4.00am on the television service. On the following day, television coverage started at 10.00am and continued throughout the day until 5.00pm.The General Election https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5fa68f09ad374bc0b7c450267879de7b https://web.archive.org/web/20201115014734/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5fa68f09ad374bc0b7c450267879de7b dead 15 November 2020 Radio Times 1458 50 19 October 1951 none 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 Background King George VI feared since that the government had such a slim majority, and he was to leave the country to go on his planned Commonwealth tour in early 1952, there was a possibility of a change of government in his absence. Clement Attlee decided to call the election to assuage that concern.Judd 2012 238 : Judd writes that Attlee confirmed in his own autobiography the King's anxiety. (In the event, the King became too ill to travel and delegated the tour to his daughter Princess Elizabeth shortly before his death in February 1952.) Parliament was dissolved on 5 October 1951.Parliamentary Election Timetables https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP97-40/RP97-40.pdf 3rd House of Commons Library 25 March 1997 3 July 2022 The Labour government, which had implemented most of its manifesto from the 1945 election, was beginning to lose cabinet ministers, such as Ernest Bevin (death) and Stafford Cripps (health issues). The Conservative Party, however, had more MPs since the 1950 general election. Campaign The Labour Party entered the election by being weakened by the emerging schism between Gaitskellites, on the right of the party, and the Bevanites, on its left.Thorpe Andrew https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 A History of the British Labour Party Macmillan Education UK London 1997 133 978-0-333-56081-5 10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 none The party's manifesto stated that the party "proud of its record, sure in its policies—confidently asks the electors to renew its mandate". It identified four key tasks facing the United Kingdom that it would tackle: the need to work for peace, the need to work to "maintain full employment and to increase production", the need to reduce cost of living and the need to "build a just society". The manifesto argued that only a Labour government could achieve those tasks.The Times House of Commons 1951 1951 The Times Office London 228 It also contrasted the Britain of 1951 with that of the interwar years in which there had been largely Conservative-led governments by noting that the interwar period had seen "mass-unemployment; mass fear; mass misery".The Times House of Commons 1951 1951 The Times Office London 229 It did not promise more nationalisations, unlike in the previous year's election, and instead focused on offering more council housing and a pledge to "associate the workers more closely with the administration of public industries and services". However, it remained opposed to full workers' control of industries. While Labour began to have some policy divisions during the election campaign, the Conservatives ran an efficient campaign, which was well-funded and orchestrated. Their manifesto, Britain Strong and Free, stressed that safeguarding "our traditional way of life" was integral to the Conservative purpose. Significantly, they did not propose to dismantle the British welfare state or the National Health Service which the Labour government had established.Kynaston 2009 32 The manifesto, however, promised to "stop all further nationalisation" and to repeal the Steel Act, which had been introduced by the Labour government and was being implemented during the election season. The Conservatives also attacked Labour for ending wartime rationing and price controls too slowly and for the rise of industrial conflicts after the end of the wartime wage freeze and the Defence Regulations bans on strike actions.The Times House of Commons 1951 1951 The Times Office London 234 As for the Liberal Party, its poor election result in 1950 only worsened this time. Unable to get the same insurance against losses of deposits of the previous year, it fielded only 109 candidates, as opposed to 478 in 1950, and thus posted the worst general election result in the party's history by getting just 2.5% of the vote and winning only six seats. The popular vote of the Liberals and later the Liberal Democrats has not fallen so low since, but their lowest number of six seats would be matched in several future elections.1951: Churchill back in power at last https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/basics/4393277.stm BBC News 5 April 2005 5 October 2013 The Liberal Party's growing irrelevance weakened the Labour Party since two thirds of potential Liberal voters supported the Conservatives. Four candidates were returned unopposed, all of them Ulster Unionists in Northern Ireland. It is the most recent general election in which any candidates have been returned unopposed although there have been later unopposed by-elections.General Election Results 1885–1979 http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html dead election.demon.co.uk 26 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20080223222448/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html 23 February 2008 Wayback Machine The subsequent Labour defeat was significant for several reasons. The party polled almost a quarter-million votes more than the Conservative Party and its National Liberal Party ally combined; won the most votes that Labour has ever won (as of 2024); and won the most votes of any political party in any election in British political history, a number that would not be surpassed until the Conservative Party's victory in 1992. However, the Conservative Party formed the next government with a majority of 17 seats. It performed much better with male working-class voters than in the elections of 1945 or 1950 and tipped the vote away from Labour in Lancashire, the Home Counties and East Anglia. Under the first-past-the-post electoral system, many Labour votes were "wasted" because they were included in large majorities for MPs in safe seats. Results Summary of seats returned + centre|420px PartyBritish Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher 37 Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006 Leader MPs Aggregate votes Of total Of total Conservative and Unionist Party Winston Churchill 321speaker 321 625 1 yes Conservative Party (UK) 13,718,199 48.0% 48.0 Conservative Party (UK) Conservative PartyConservative and Unionist Party results for England and Wales. Winston Churchill 264speaker 264 625 1 yes Conservative Party (UK) 11,276,812 39.2% 39.2 Conservative Party (UK) Unionist Party James Stuart 29 29 625 1 yes Unionist Party (Scotland) 1,108,321 3.9% 3.9 Unionist Party (Scotland) National Liberal Party John Maclay 19 19 625 1 yes National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) 1,058,138 3.7% 3.7 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) Ulster Unionist Party Basil Brooke 9 9 625 1 yes Ulster Unionist Party 274,928 0.9% 0.9 Ulster Unionist Party Labour Party Clement Attlee 295Includes 16 Co-operative Party MP, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 295 625 1 yes Labour Party (UK) 13,948,883 48.8% 48.8 Labour Party (UK) Liberal Party Clement Davies 6 6 625 1 yes Liberal Party (UK) 730,546 2.6% 2.6 Liberal Party (UK) Irish Labour Party William Norton 1 1 625 1 yes Irish Labour Party 33,174 0.1% 0.1 Irish Labour Party Independent Nationalist 1 1 625 1 yes Independent Nationalist 33,097 0.1% 0.1 Independent Nationalist Nationalist Party James McSparran 1 1 625 1 yes Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) 32,714 0.1% 0.1 Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) Full results centre|500x500px +Results of the October 1951 general election to the House of Commons of the United KingdomPartyhttps://api.parliament.uk/uk-general-elections/general-elections/30 UK General Elections Results 1832-2019 12 August 2026British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 37 2006LeaderCandidatesMPsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%)   Labour ClementAttlee 617 Includes 38 Co-operative Party candidates, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 295Includes 16 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 2 22 20Includes 2 Co-operative Party MPs, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 47.2Includes 2.6% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 13,948,883 Includes 845,509 for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 48.8Includes 2.9% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance. 2.7Includes 0.4% for the Co-operative Party, as part of the Labour-Co-op alliance.   Conservative (Total) WinstonChurchill 617 321 25 2 23 51.4 13,718,199 48.0 4.6 Conservative Party (UK)Figure includes the Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party under their nation affiliations with the Conservative Party. WinstonChurchill 562 302speaker 22 2 20 48.3 12,660,061 44.3 4.3 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) JohnMaclay 55 19 3 0 3 3.0 1,058,138 3.7 0.3   Liberal ClementDavies 109 6 1 4 3 1.0 730,546 2.6 6.5   Irish Labour WilliamNorton 1 0 1 0 1 — 33,174 0.1 0.1   IndependentNationalist 1 1 colspan=2 Did not stand in 1945 1 0.2 33,097 0.1   Nationalist JamesMcSparran 1 1 0 1 1 0.2 32,714 0.1 0.1   IndependentRepublican 1 0 colspan=3 Did not stand in 1945 — 26,976 0.1   Communist HarryPollitt 10 0 0 0 — 21,640 0.1 0.2   Independent 5 0 0 0 — 19,633 0.1 0.1   Plaid Cymru GwynforEvans 4 0 0 0 — 10,920 0.0 0.1   SNP RobertMcIntyre 2 0 0 0 — 7,299 0.0   IndependentConservative 2 0 0 0 — 6,062 0.0 0.1   Ind. Labour Party FredBarton 3 0 0 0 — 4,057 0.0   British Empire P. J.Ridout 1 0 colspan="3" New — 1,643 0.0 New   Anti-Partition JamesMcSparran 4 0 0 0 — 1,340 0.0   United Socialist Movement GuyAldred 1 0 0 0 — 411 0.0   Other non-contested 0 0 colspan="2" 11 Independent Liberal MP. — 0 0.0 Total 1,376 625 0 100.0 28,596,594 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 34,919,331British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 77 0333197348 1976 82.6https://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 550px 350px Labour Labour Party (UK) 48.78 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 47.97 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 2.55 Others #a9a9a9 0.70 Headline swing: 1.13% to Conservative. Seats summary Parliamentary seats #ddd 550px 350px Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 51.36 Labour Labour Party (UK) 47.20 Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 0.96 Others #a9a9a9 0.48 Transfers of seats All comparisons are with the 1950 election.No seats changed hands during the 1950–51 Parliament. FromToNo.SeatsLabour Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) (HOLD) 273 Liberal Party (UK)1Bolton West Conservative Party (UK)20Barry, Battersea South, Berwick and East Lothian, Bolton East, Buckingham, Conway, Darlington, Doncaster, Dulwich, King's Lynn, Manchester Blackley, Middlesbrough West, Norfolk South West, Oldham East, Plymouth Sutton, Reading North, Rochdale, Rutherglen, Wycombe, Yarmouth National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) 1Bedfordshire South Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) (HOLD)1Fermanagh and South Tyrone Independent Nationalist1Mid Ulster Liberal Party (UK) Labour Party (UK)2Anglesey, Meirioneth Liberal Party (UK) (HOLD)5Cardiganshire, Carmarthen, Huddersfield West, Montgomery, Orkney and Shetland Conservative Party (UK)2Eye, Roxburgh and Selkirk National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) (HOLD)16Angus North and Mearns, Angus South, Bedfordshire South, Bradford North, Denbigh, Dumfriesshire, Fife East, Harwich, Holland with Boston, Huntingdonshire, Luton, Norfolk Central, Renfrewshire West, Ross and Cromarty, St Ives, Torrington Conservative Party (UK) National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)1Newcastle upon Tyne North Conservative Party (UK) (HOLD)many Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)1Hexham Ulster Unionist Party Irish Labour Party1Belfast West Ulster Unionist Party9North Antrim, South Antrim, Armagh, Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South, Down North, Down South, Londonderry See also List of MPs elected in the 1951 United Kingdom general election 1951 United Kingdom general election in England 1951 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1951 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1951 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland 1951 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours Notes References Sources Butler David E. David Butler (psephologist) The British General Election of 1951 1952 Macmillan London, The standard study Craig F.W.S. F. W. S. Craig British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987 Gower Dartmouth 1989 0900178302 Judd Dennis George VI https://archive.org/details/georgevi0000judd registration I.B. Tauris (paperback) 2012 978-1-78076-071-1 Kynaston David David Kynaston Family Britain 1951–7 https://archive.org/details/familybritain1950000kyna registration Bloomsbury London 2009 9780747583851 External links United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 Churchill & the 1951 General Election - UK Parliament Living Heritage Manifestos CONSERVATIVE PARTY: 1951, 1951 Conservative Party manifesto Labour Party Election Manifesto, 1951 Labour Party manifesto The Nation's Task, 1951 Liberal Party manifesto General election 1951 General election Category:Electoral history of Winston Churchill Category:Clement Attlee