United Kingdom general election, 1950

United Kingdom general election, 1950

23 February 1950

All 625 seats in the House of Commons 313 seats needed for a majority Turnout 83.9%   First party Second party Third party   Leader Clement Attlee Winston Churchill Clement Davies Party Labour Conservative Liberal Leader since 25 October 1935 9 October 1940 2 August 1945 Leader's seat Walthamstow West Woodford Montgomeryshire Last election 393 seats, 49.7% 197 seats, 36.2% (Conservatives) + 11 seats, 2.9% (National Liberals) 12 seats, 9.0% Seats won 315 298* 9 Seat change 78 90 3 Popular vote 13,226,176 12,494,404 2,621,487 Percentage 46.1% 43.4% 9.1% Swing 3.6% 4.3% 0.1%

Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results. (Map does not show results in Northern Ireland) * Including Scottish Unionists, Ulster Unionists, and National Liberals. The National Liberals had united with the Conservatives at the constituency level in 1947.

PM before election Clement Attlee Labour Subsequent PM Clement Attlee Labour

The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first ever general election to be held after a full term of a Labour government. The election was held on 23 February 1950. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives,^[1] and receiving more votes than they had during the 1945 election,^[2] Labour obtained a slim majority of just five seats — a stark contrast to 1945, when they had achieved a 146-seat majority.^[3] Labour called another general election in 1951.

Significant changes since the 1945 general election included the abolition of plural voting by the Representation of the People Act 1948, and a major reorganisation of constituencies by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. Eleven new English seats were created and six abolished, and there were over 170 major alterations to constituencies across the country. Turnout increased to 83.9%, the highest turnout in a UK general election under universal suffrage. It was also the first election to be covered on TV, although the footage was not recorded.

Both the Conservative and Labour parties entered the campaign positively. The Conservatives, having recovered from their heavy election defeat in 1945, accepted most of the nationalisation that had taken place under the Attlee government, which included the NHS and the mixed economy. The campaign essentially focused on the possible future nationalisation of other sectors and industries, which was supported by the Labour party, and opposed by the Tories. The Liberals essentially viewed the struggle between the two parties on this issue as a class struggle.^[4] The Liberal Party fielded 475 candidates, more than at any election since 1929. Liberal leader Clement Davies felt that the party had been at a disadvantage at the 1945 election when they ran fewer candidates than needed to form a government. Davies arranged for the cost of running extra candidates to be offset by the party taking out insurance with Lloyd's of London against more than 50 candidates losing their deposits. In the event, a total of 319 Liberal candidates lost their deposits, a record number^[5] until 2015, when candidates for the Liberal Democrats lost 335 deposits in the general election held in May.^[6]

Results

Total votes cast: 28,771,124. Turnout 83.9%.^[7] All parties shown.

Votes summary

Seats summary

See also

• MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1950

References

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• Nicholas, H. (1951). The British general election of 1950. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-77865-0. 

External links

• United Kingdom election results - summary results 1885-1979

Manifestos

• This is the Road: The Conservative and Unionist Party's Policy- 1950 Conservative manifesto.
• Let Us Win Through Together: A Declaration of Labour Policy for the Consideration of the Nation - 1950 Labour Party manifesto.
• No Easy Way: Britain's Problems and the Liberal Answers - 1950 Liberal Party manifesto.

Notes

Elections and referendums in the United Kingdom General elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 Next Local elections 1889 1890 1892 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 European elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Referendums 1975 2011 2016 Elections and referendums in England (1264–1705) Great Britain (1708–1796) Ireland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales