United Kingdom general election, 1964

United Kingdom general election, 1964

15 October 1964

All 630 seats in the House of Commons 316 seats needed for a majority Turnout 77.1% (1.7%)   First party Second party Third party   Leader Harold Wilson Alec Douglas-Home Jo Grimond Party Labour Conservative Liberal Leader since 14 February 1963 18 October 1963 5 November 1956 Leader's seat Huyton Kinross & Western Perthshire Orkney and Shetland Last election 258 seats, 43.8% 365 seats, 49.4% 6 seats, 5.9% Seats won 317 304 9 Seat change 59 61 3 Popular vote 12,205,808 12,002,642 3,099,283 Percentage 44.1% 43.4% 11.2% Swing 0.2% 6% 5.3%

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

PM before election Sir Alec Douglas-Home Conservative Subsequent PM Harold Wilson Labour

The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was won by the Labour Party with an overall majority of four seats. The election was held on 15 October 1964, just over five years after the previous election, and 13 years after the Conservative Party had retaken power.

Background

Both major parties had changed leaders in 1963: after the sudden death of Hugh Gaitskell early in the year, Labour chose Harold Wilson (who was then thought of as being on the party's centre-left), while Sir Alec Douglas-Home (then the Earl of Home) had taken over as Conservative leader and prime minister in the autumn after Harold Macmillan announced his resignation. Douglas-Home shortly afterwards disclaimed his title under the Peerage Act 1963 in order to lead the party from the Commons.

Macmillan had led the Conservatives in government since January 1957. Despite initial popularity and a resounding election victory in 1959, he had become increasingly unpopular in the early 1960s, and Douglas-Home faced a difficult task in rebuilding the party's popularity with just a year elapsing between taking office and having to face a general election. Wilson had begun to try to tie the Labour Party to the growing confidence of Britain in the 1960s, asserting that the "white heat of revolution" would sweep away "restrictive practices... on both sides of industry". The Liberal Party enjoyed a resurgence after a virtual wipeout in the 1950s, and doubled its share of the vote, primarily at the expense of the Conservatives. Although Labour did not increase its vote share significantly, the fall in support for the Conservatives led to Wilson securing an overall majority of four seats.^[1] This proved to be unworkable and Wilson called a snap election in 1966.

Campaign

The pre-election campaign was prolonged, as Douglas-Home delayed calling a general election to give himself as much time as possible to improve the prospects of his party. The election campaign formally began on 15 September 1964 when Douglas-Home saw the Queen and asked for a dissolution of Parliament. The campaign was dominated by some of the more voluble characters of the political scene at the time. While George Brown, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, toured the country making energetic speeches (and the occasional gaffe), Quintin Hogg was a leading spokesman for the Conservatives. The image of Hogg lashing out at a Wilson poster with his walking stick was one of the most striking of the campaign. Many party speakers, especially at televised rallies, had to deal with hecklers: in particular Douglas-Home was treated very roughly at a meeting in Birmingham.

The election night was broadcast live by the BBC, and was presented by Richard Dimbleby, with Robin Day, Ian Trethowan, Cliff Michelmore and David Butler.^[2]

Opinion poll summary

NOP: Lab swing 3.5% (Lab majority of 12)
Gallup: Lab swing 4% (Lab majority of 23)
Research Services: Lab swing 2.75% (Con majority of 30)
Daily Express: Lab swing of 1.75% (Con majority of 60).^[3]

Result

The election resulted in a very slim majority of four seats for the Labour Party, so they were in government for the first time since 1951. Labour achieved a swing of just over 3%, although its vote rose by only 0.2%. The main shift was the swing from the Conservatives to the Liberals of 5.7%. The Liberals won nearly twice as many votes as in 1959, partly because they had 150 more candidates. Wilson became Prime Minister, replacing Douglas-Home. The four-seat majority was not sustainable for a full Parliament, and Wilson called another general election in 1966. In particular, the small majority meant the government could not implement its policy of nationalising the steel industry, due to the opposition of two of its backbenchers, Woodrow Wyatt and Desmond Donnelly.

This was the only election in Britain's recent history when all seats were won by the three main parties: no minor parties, independents or splinter groups won any seats.

All parties are shown. Conservative total includes Scottish Unionists, Ulster Unionists, and National Liberals.

Votes summary

Headline Swing: 3.1% to Labour

Seats summary

Regional Results

Great Britain

Party			Votes	% of vote	Candidates	Seats	% of seats	+/–
	Labour		12,103,049	44.8	618	317
	Conservative & Unionist		11,600,745	42.9	618	292
		Conservative	10,292,974	38.1	599	286
		Unionist	981,641	3.6	65	24
		National Liberal	326,130	1.2	19	6
	Liberal		3,081,929	11.4	361	9
	Plaid Cymru		69,507	0.3	23	0	0.0
	SNP		64,044	0.2	15	0	0.0
	Communist		46,442	0.2	36	0	0.0
	Other parties and independents		53,116	0.2	47	0	0.0
Total (turnout: 77.2%)			27,018,832	100.0	1,718	618	100.0
Did not vote			7,984,670
Registered voters			35,003,502
British population			52,608,000
Source: Rallings & Thrasher

England

Party			Votes	% of vote	Candidates	Seats	% of seats	+/–
	Conservative & Unionist		10,106,028	44.1	511	262
		Conservative	9,894,014	43.1	500	256
		National Liberal	212,014	0.9	11	6
	Labour		9,982,360	43.5	511	246
	Liberal		2,775,752	12.1	323	3
	Communist		24,824	0.1	22	0	0.0
	Other parties and independents		48,287	0.2	42	0	0.0
Total (turnout: 77.0%)			22,937,251	100.0	1,409	511	100.0
Did not vote			6,867,376
Registered voters			29,804,627
English population			44,610,500
Source: Rallings & Thrasher

Scotland

Party			Votes	% of vote	Candidates	Seats	% of seats	+/–
	Labour		1,283,667	48.7	71	43	60.6	5
	Conservative & Unionist		1,069,695	40.6	71	24	33.8	7
		Unionist	981,641	37.3	65	24	33.8	1
		National Liberal	88,054	3.3	6	0	0.0	6
	Liberal		200,063	7.6	26	4	5.6	3
	SNP		64,044	2.4	15	0	0.0
	Communist		12,241	0.5	9	0	0.0
	Other parties and independents		4,829	0.2	5	0	0.0
Total (turnout: 77.6%)			2,634,539	100.0	197	71	100.0
Did not vote			759,352
Registered voters			3,393,891
Scottish population			5,209,000
Source: Rallings & Thrasher

Wales

Party			Votes	% of vote	Candidates	Seats	% of seats	+/–
	Labour		837,022	57.8	36	28	77.8
	Conservative & Unionist		425,022	29.4	36	6	16.7
		Conservative	398,960	27.6	34	6	16.7
		National Liberal	26,062	1.8	2	0	0.0
	Liberal		106,114	7.3	12	2	5.6
	Plaid Cymru		69,507	4.8	23	0	0.0
	Communist		9,377	0.6	5	0	0.0
Total (turnout: 80.1%)			1,447,042	100.0	112	36	100.0
Did not vote			358,453
Registered voters			1,805,495
Voting age population			1,805,925
Welsh population			2,676,400
Source: Rallings & Thrasher

Northern Ireland

Party			Votes	% of vote	Candidates	Seats	% of seats	+/–
	Conservative & Unionist		401,897	63.0	12	12	100.0
		Ulster Unionist Party
	Labour		102,759	16.1	10	0	0.0
	Independent Republican		101,628	15.9	12	0	0.0
	Ulster Liberal		17,354	2.7	4	0	0.0
	Republican Labour		14,678	2.3	1	0	0.0
Total (turnout: 71.7%)			638,316	100.0		12	100.0
Did not vote			252,236
Registered voters			890,552
Voting age population			891,043
Northern Irish population			1,458,000
Source: Rallings & Thrasher

Incumbents defeated

Conservative

• Ernest Partridge (Battersea South)
• Sir Douglas Marshall (Bodmin)
• Edwin Taylor (Bolton East)
• Sir William Taylor, 1st Baronet (Bradford North)
• David James(Brighton Kemptown)
• John Bidgood (Bury and Radcliffe)
• Donald McIntosh Johnson (Carlisle)
• Anthony Bourne-Arton (Darlington)
• Anthony Barber (Doncaster) - Minister of Health
• John Arbuthnot (Dover)
• Graeme Finlay (Epping)
• Frank Lilley (Glasgow Kelvingrove)
• Peter Michael Kirk (Gravesend) - Under-Secretary of State for War
• Maurice Macmillan (Halifax)
• Tony Leavey (Heywood and Royton)
• Martin Madden (Hitchin)
• Denys Bullard (King's Lynn)
• Michael Coulson (Kingston upon Hull North) - Parliamentary Private Secretary
• Norman Pannell (Liverpool Kirkdale)
• Reginald Bevins (Liverpool Toxteth) - Postmaster General
• Sir Kenneth Thompson, 1st Baronet (Liverpool Walton)
• John Woollam (Liverpool West Derby)
• Eric Johnson (Manchester Blackley)
• Eveline Hill (Manchester Wythenshawe)
• Geoffrey Rippon (Norwich South)
• John Cordeaux (Nottingham Central)
• Alan Green (Preston South) - Financial Secretary to the Treasury
• Sir Hugh Linstead (Putney)
• Sir Norman John Hulbert DL (Stockport North)
• Sir Harold Macdonald Steward (Stockport South)
• Paul Williams (Sunderland South)
• Michael Hughes-Young (Wandsworth Central) - Treasurer of the Household
• Frederick Farey-Jones (Watford)
• Colin Turner (Woolwich West)
• Philip Holland (Acton)
• William Compton Carr (Barons Court)
• John Hollingworth (Birmingham All Saints)
• Leslie Seymour (Birmingham Sparkbrook)
• Leonard Cleaver (Birmingham Yardley)
• Sir Alan Glyn (Clapham)
• Wilf Proudfoot (Cleveland)
• Philip Hocking (Coventry South)
• Geoffrey Johnson Smith (Holborn and St Pancras South)
• Marcus Worsley (Keighley)
• Gordon Matthews (Meriden)
• Fergus Montgomery (Newcastle upon Tyne East)
• Peter Tapsell (Nottingham West)
• Julian Critchley (Rochester and Chatham)
• Hugh Rees (Swansea West)
• John Kearns (The Hartlepools)
• Michael Hamilton (Wellingborough) - Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
• Trevor Skeet (Willesden East)
• Neil McLean (Inverness)
• Sir John MacLeod (Ross and Cromarty)

Labour

• Charles Howell (Birmingham Perry Barr)
• Fenner Brockway (Eton and Slough)
• Albert Hilton (South West Norfolk)
• Patrick Gordon Walker (Smethwick) - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Liberal

• Arthur Holt (Bolton West)
• Donald Wade (Huddersfield West) - Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party

Televised declarations

These declarations were covered live by the BBC where the returning officer was heard to say "duly elected".

• Orpington was won by the Liberals in a by-election in 1962 and held in the general election. When this happens, it is described as a "win" as opposed to a "gain" or "hold".

See also

• MPs elected in the UK general election, 1964

References

Further reading

• Barberis, Peter. "The 1964 General Election and the Liberals' False Dawn," Contemporary British History, (September 2007) 21#3 pp 373–387
• Butler, David E. et al. The British General Election of 1964 (1965) the standard scholarly study
• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• Denver, David. "The 1964 General Election: Explaining Voting Behaviour Then and Now," Contemporary British History (2007) 21#3 pp 295–307
• Favretto, Ilaria. "'Wilsonism' reconsidered: Labour party revisionism 1952–64," Contemporary British History (2000) 14#4 pages 54–80 doi:10.1080/13619460008581603
• Fielding, Steven. "Rethinking Labour's 1964 Campaign," Contemporary British History, (September 2007) 21#3 pp 309–324
• Heppell, Timothy. "The Labour Party Leadership Election of 1963: Explaining the Unexpected Election of Harold Wilson," Contemporary British History, (2010) 24#2 pp 151–171
• Morgan, Austen. Harold Wilson (1992) 625pp
• Tomlinson, Jim. "It's the Economy, Stupid! Labour and the Economy, circa 1964," Contemporary British History, (September 2007) 21#3 pp 337–349
• Wrigley, Chris. "Trade Unions and the 1964 General Election," Contemporary British History, (September 2007) 21#3 pp 325–335
• Young, John W. "International Factors and the 1964 Election," Contemporary British History, (September 2007) 21#3 pp 351–371

External links

• United Kingdom election results - summary results 1885-1979

Manifestos

• "PROSPERITY WITH A PURPOSE" - 1964 Conservative manifesto.
• "THE NEW BRITAIN" - 1964 Labour Party manifesto.
• "THINK FOR YOURSELF" - 1964 Liberal Party manifesto.

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Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx
Premierships	1964–1970 1974–1976
General elections	1964 1966 1970 February 1974 October 1974
Party elections	1960 1963
Constituencies	Ormskirk Huyton
Resignation Honours	1970 1976
Family	Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx Hon. Robin Wilson
Related articles	Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Beira Patrol D-notice affair Gnomes of Zürich Harold Wilson conspiracy theories Clockwork Orange Harry letters affair The Lavender List Wilson Doctrine Bibliography
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