The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. The election was also a setback for the Liberal Party under its new leader Jeremy Thorpe, which lost half its seats. The Conservatives, when combined with the Ulster Unionists, held a majority of 31 over all other parties.
Most opinion polls prior to the election had predicted a comfortable Labour victory, and had put Labour 12.4% ahead of the Conservatives. However on the day, a late swing put the Conservatives 3.4% ahead.
| Party
| Votes
| Seats
| Loss/Gain
| Share of Vote (%)
|
| Conservative
| 13,145,123
| 330
| + 77
| 46.4
|
| Labour
| 12,208,758
| 288
| - 76
| 43.1
|
| Liberal
| 2,117,035
| 6
| - 6
| 7.5
|
| SNP
| 306,802
| 1
| + 1
| 1.1
|
| Plaid Cymru
| 175,016
| 0
|
| 0.6
|
| Unity
| 140,930
| 2
| + 2
| 0.4
|
| Independent
| 39,264
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| Communist
| 37,970
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| Protestant Unionist
| 35,303
| 1
| + 1
| 0.1
|
| Republican Labour
| 30,649
| 1
|
| 0.1
|
| Independent Labour
| 24,685
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| Independent Conservative
| 24,014
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| Democratic
| 15,292
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| National Democratic (England)
| 14,276
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| National Front
| 11,449
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| National Democratic (NI)
| 10,349
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| Vectis National
| 1,607
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| Independent Liberal
| 1,456
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| World Government
| 1,016
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| Mebyon Kernow
| 960
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| Independent Labour
| 847
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
Total votes cast: 28,305,534. All parties with more than 750 votes listed. The Conservative figure includes 8 Ulster Unionists.
For the text of an alternative history where the Tories did not win the 1970 general election, see http://www.btinternet.com/~chief.gnome/
Last updated: 05-27-2005 04:45:19
