United Kingdom general election, 1955

United Kingdom general election, 1955
United Kingdom
26 May 1955

All 630 seats in the House of Commons
316 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 76.8% (Decrease5.8%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Anthony Eden Clement Attlee Clement Davies
Party Conservative Labour Liberal
Leader since 7 April 1955 25 October 1935 2 August 1945
Leader's seat Warwick and Leamington Walthamstow West Montgomeryshire
Last election 321 seats, 48.0% 295 seats, 48.8% 6 seats, 2.5%
Seats won 345 277 6
Seat change Increase 23 Decrease 18 Steady0
Popular vote 13,310,891 12,405,254 722,402
Percentage 49.7% 46.4% 2.7%
Swing Increase 1.7% Decrease 2.4% Increase0.2%

Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.

PM before election

Anthony Eden
Conservative

Subsequent PM

Anthony Eden
Conservative

1950 election MPs
1951 election MPs
1955 election MPs
1959 election MPs

The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against the Labour Party, then in their twentieth year of leadership by Clement Attlee.

This general election has since been described by many as one of the "dullest" post war elections, because there was little change in the country, with Labour steadily losing ground owing to infighting between the left (Bevanites) and the right (Gaitskellites). This resulted in an unclear election message from the Labour Party. It was the fifth and last general election fought by Labour leader Clement Attlee, who by this time was 72. Eden had only just become leader of the Conservative party a few weeks before the election, after the retirement of Winston Churchill, but he had long been considered the heir apparent to the Conservative leadership. The Conservatives were hoping to take advantage of the end of food rationing and the good mood created by the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. Eden himself was telegenic, although not a great public speaker, and gradual economic growth benefited the party greatly.[1] However, it was the last time the Conservatives won the most seats in Scotland; after 1959, Labour established itself as the dominant party in that country at UK general elections, a position it maintained until the rise of the Scottish National Party at the 2015 election.

For the first time television took a prominent role in the campaign, and this was the earliest UK general election of which television coverage survives (the 1950 and 1951 election nights were not recorded). Only three hours of the coverage presented by Richard Dimbleby was kept; this was rebroadcast on BBC Parliament on the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the date of the election.

On election day, the Daily Mirror had printed the front page headline "Don't Let The Tories Cheat Our Children", urging its readers to elect Labour on the basis that it had "built a better Britain for us all".[2]

Results

This election was fought on new boundaries, with 5 seats added to the 625 in 1951.

The result showed very little change from 1951, with fewer than 25 seats changing hands and only a small swing from Labour to the Conservatives. The only real highlight of the night was in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Féin won 2 seats in a British election for the first time since 1918 (before the partition of Ireland). Despite deep divisions in the Labour party, the election was not the disaster it could have been for that party. Although little changed, this was a strong victory for the Conservatives, who won the largest share of the vote for a single party in a post-war general election.

345 277 6 2
Conservative Labour Lib O
UK General Election 1955
Candidates Votes
Party Leader Standing Elected Gained Unseated Net % of total % No. Net %
  Conservative Anthony Eden 624 345 + 23 54.8 49.7 13,310,891 + 1.7
  Labour Clement Attlee 620 277 1 19 − 18 44.0 46.4 12,405,254 − 2.4
  Liberal Clement Davies 110 6 0 0 0 1.0 2.7 722,402 + 0.2
  Sinn Féin Paddy McLogan 12 2 2 0 + 2 0.3 0.6 152,310 + 0.5
  Plaid Cymru Gwynfor Evans 11 0 0 0 0 0.2 45,119 + 0.2
  Independent N/A 8 0 0 0 0 0.2 43,791 + 0.1
  Communist Harry Pollitt 17 0 0 0 0 0.1 33,144 0.0
  Irish Labour William Norton 1 0 0 1 − 1 0.1 16,050 0.0
  Independent Labour N/A 2 0 0 0 0 0.1 15,322 N/A
  SNP Robert McIntyre 2 0 0 0 0 0.1 12,112 0.0
  Ind. Labour Party Annie Maxton 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 3,334 0.0

All parties shown. Conservatives include National Liberal Party and Ulster Unionists.

Government's new majority 60
Total votes cast 26,759,729
Turnout 76.8%

Votes summary

Popular vote
Conservative and Unionist
 
49.7%
Labour
 
46.4%
Liberal
 
2.7%
Independent
 
0.2%
Others
 
1.0%

Headline Swing: 1.6% to Conservative

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Conservative and Unionist
 
54.8%
Labour
 
44.0%
Liberal
 
1.0%
Sinn Féin
 
0.3%

Selected declarations

First Declaration: Cheltenham (Con: 24,259, Lab:16,638. Con hold)
Prime Minister's Seat: Warwick and Leamington (Con: 29,979, Lab: 16,513. Con hold)

See also

References

Further reading

Manifestos

Notes

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