United Kingdom general election, 1959

This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan. The Conservatives increased their overall majority again, to 100 seats over the Labour Party under Hugh Gaitskell.

Background

Following the Suez Crisis in 1956, Anthony Eden the Conservative Prime Minister became unpopular and resigned early the following year to be succeeded by Harold Macmillan. At this stage, the Labour Party, with Hugh Gaitskell having taken over as leader from Clement Attlee just after the 1955 election, enjoyed large opinion poll leads over the Conservatives, and it looked as if they could win.

The Liberals also had a new leader in Jo Grimmond, meaning that all three parties would contest the election with a new leader at the helm.

However, the Conservatives enjoyed an upturn in fortunes as the economy improved under Macmillan, and his personal approval ratings remained high. By September 1958 the Conservatives had moved ahead of Labour in the opinion polls.

Campaign

This would be the first election in some time taking place after all of the 3 main parties changed their leaders. The Conservatives fought under the slogan "Life is better with the Conservatives, don't let Labour ruin it" and were aided by a pre-election economic boom. Macmillan very effectively "summed up" the mood of the British public when he said that most of the people had "never had it so good". Macmillan was very popular and was described as being in a politician of the centre ground, he himself had once held a constituency in the north (Stockton-on-Tees) during the 1930s that had experienced large scale unemployment and poverty. The first week of polling put the Tories comfortably ahead of Labour by over 5%, which narrowed as the election progressed. The Labour Party fought a generally effective campaign, with television broadcasts masterminded by Tony Benn under the umbrella of their manifesto entitled "Britain belongs to you", which concentrated on Tory complacency in the light of the growing gap between the rich and poor. ^[1] Hugh Gaitskell made a mistake by declaring that a Labour government would not raise taxes if it came to power. This was despite the fact that the Labour manifesto contained pledges to increase spending, especially with regard to raising pensions. This led voters to doubt Labour's spending plans, and is usually cited as a key reason for their defeat. ^[2]

Results

Early on election night it became clear that the Conservative government had been returned with an increased majority. However there were swings to Labour in parts of North West England, and in Scotland. For the 4th time in a row the Conservatives increased their number of seats at a general election, despite a slight drop in their share of the vote. For Labour the result was disappointing, despite appearing more united than they had in recent years under Gaitskell, the party had failed for the 3rd time to win an election. The BBC's election coverage, presented by Richard Dimbleby, was shown on BBC Parliament on 9 October 2009 to mark the 50th anniversary of the election.

All parties shown. Conservatives include the National Liberal Party, Scottish Unionist Party and Ulster Unionists.

Votes summary

Headline Swing: 1.32% to Conservative

Seats summary

Seats changing hands

• From Conservative to Labour (6 seats): Ayrshire Central, Glasgow Craigton, Glasgow Scotstoun, Lanark, Oldham East and Rochdale
• From Conservative to Liberal (1 seat): Devon North
• From Conservative to Independent (1 seat): Caithness and Sutherland
• From Labour to Conservative (28 seats): Acton, Barons Court, Birmingham All Saints, Birmingham Sparkbrook, Birmingham Yardley, Brierley Hill, Bristol North East, Bristol North West, Clapham, Cleveland, Coventry South, Derbyshire South East, Holborn and St Pancras South, Keighley, Lowestoft, Meriden, Newcastle upon Tyne East, Nottingham West, Reading, Rochester and Chatham, Rowley Regis and Tipton, Rugby, Swansea West, The Hartlepools, Uxbridge, Wellingborough, Willesden East and Willesden West
• From Liberal to Labour (1 seats): Carmarthen

See also

• MPs elected in the UK general election, 1959

References

Bibliography

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• United Kingdom election results - summary results 1885-1979
• Thorpe, Andrew. (2001) A History Of The British Labour Party, Palgrave, ISBN 0-333-92908-x

Manifestos

• The Next Five Years- 1959 Conservative manifesto.
• Britain Belongs to You: The Labour Party's Policy for Consideration by the British People - 1959 Labour Party manifesto.
• People Count - 1959 Liberal Party manifesto.