1970 UK general election
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 |
12,080,977 |
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 |
113,924 |
2 |
+ 2 |
0.4 |
| Labour (NI) |
98,914 |
0 |
|
0.3 |
| National Unity |
70,378 |
0 |
|
0.2 |
| Communist |
37,970 |
0 |
|
0.1 |
| Protestant Unionist |
35,303 |
1 |
+ 1 |
0.1 |
| Republican Labour |
30,649 |
1 |
|
0.1 |
| Nationalist (NI) |
27,006 |
0 |
|
0.1 |
| National Democrat |
24,625 |
0 |
|
0.1 |
| Indepdent Labour |
17,120 |
0 |
|
0.1 |
| Democratic |
15,292 |
0 |
|
0.0 |
| National Front |
11,449 |
0 |
|
0.0 |
The Conservative figure includes 8 Ulster Unionists.
Referenced By
British Labour Party | Labour (UK) | Labour Party (UK) | The Labour Party (UK) | UK Labour Party | United Kingdom Labour Party
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