1966 United Kingdom general election

The 1966 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 31 March 1966. The result was a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

1966 United Kingdom general election

← 1964 31 March 1966 1970 →

All 630 seats in the House of Commons
316 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout75.8% (Decrease1.3 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Harold Wilson Edward Heath Jo Grimond
Party Labour Conservative Liberal
Leader since 14 February 1963 28 July 1965 5 November 1956
Leader's seat Huyton Bexley Orkney and Shetland
Last election 317 seats, 44.1% 304 seats, 43.4% 9 seats, 11.2%
Seats won 364[note 1] 253 12
Seat change Increase47 Decrease51 Increase3
Popular vote 13,096,951 11,418,433 2,327,533
Percentage 48.0% 41.9% 8.5%
Swing Increase3.9% Decrease1.5% Decrease2.7%

Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results

Composition of the House of Commons after the election

Prime Minister before election

Harold Wilson
Labour

Prime Minister after election

Harold Wilson
Labour

Wilson decided to call a snap election since his government, elected a mere 17 months previously, in 1964, had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs. The Labour government was returned following this snap election with a much larger majority of 98 seats. This was the last British general election in which the voting age was 21; Wilson's government passed an amendment to the Representation of the People Act in 1969 to include eligibility to vote at age 18, which was in place for the next general election in 1970.

This was the only election between 1945 and 1997 in which the Labour Party won a workable majority sustainable to last a full term. In the next seven general elections, the Labour Party would win a majority of seats only once (October 1974) and would lose five elections to the Conservatives. This election also noted the Labour Party achieving its third-highest vote-share (48%) and second largest total number of votes in history (the largest vote-share being the 49.7% achieved in the 1945 election).

Background

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Prior to the 1966 general election, Labour had performed poorly in local elections in 1965, and lost a by-election, cutting their majority to just two. Shortly after the local elections, the leader of the Conservative Party Alec Douglas-Home was replaced by Edward Heath in the 1965 leadership election.

Despite setbacks and a small majority, Labour believed it had an advantage due to the disorientation from the change of leadership at the Conservative Party, the improvement of economic conditions under its brief government, and a victory at the 1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election.[1] The Conservatives had not had much time to prepare their campaign, although it was more professional than previously. There had been little time for Heath to become well known among the British public, having led the party for just eight months before the election. For the Liberal Party, money was an issue: two elections in the space of just two years had left the party in a tight financial position and had to field fewer candidates.[2] Labour ran its campaign with the slogan "You know Labour government works" and avoided commenting on controversial issues such as European integration, trade unions, and nationalisation.[1]

The election night was broadcast live on the BBC, was presented by Cliff Michelmore, Ian Trethowan, Robin Day, Robert McKenzie and David Butler. The election was replayed on the BBC Parliament channel on the 40th anniversary of the event,[3] and again in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the election.[4]

Although the BBC's telecast was in black and white, a couple of colour television cameras were placed in the BBC election studio at Television Centre to allow CBS's Charles Collingwood and NBC's David Brinkley to file live reports from that studio by satellite and in colour for their respective networks' evening news programmes (which were transmitted at 11:30 pm British time, 6:30 pm Eastern Standard Time).

Timeline

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The Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, announced on 28 February that Parliament would be dissolved on 10 March, for an election to be held on 31 March. The key dates were as follows:

Thursday 10 March Dissolution of the 43rd Parliament and campaigning officially begins
Monday 21 March Last day to file nomination papers; 1,707 candidates enter to contest 630 seats
Wednesday 30 March Campaigning officially ends
Thursday 31 March Polling day
Friday 1 April The Labour Party wins with an improved majority of 98
Monday 18 April 44th Parliament assembles
Thursday 21 April State Opening of Parliament

Opinion polling

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  • Research Services: 3% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 101)
  • National opinion polls: 3.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 115)
  • Gallup: 4.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 150)
  • Express (known as Harris): 7.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of in excess of 255)

Results

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The Labour Party performed very well in the election and expanded its previously slim majority against the Conservative opposition to 97 seats, accomplishing a net gain of 48 seats. It won 364 seats from 48 per cent of the vote, against 253 seats from 41.4 per cent for the Conservatives and 12 seats from 8 per cent for the Liberals. A major reason for the Labour victory was the revitalization of the party's working-class support in the 1960s. It captured its highest support yet from manual laborers at 69 per cent, as well as its best performance for non-manual laborers since 1945. The government also appealed to both the right wing of the party with its cabinet dominated by junior ministers of the Attlee ministry as well as the left wing by the presence of officials such as Prime Minister Wilson, Richard Crossman, Barbara Castle, and Frank Cousins.[1] Although the party would go on to win more seats under Tony Blair (1997, 2001) and Keir Starmer (2024), Labour have never since matched the 48% of the popular vote they won in 1966.

 
UK General Election 1966
Candidates Votes
Party Leader Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net % of total % No. Net %
  Labour Harold Wilson 622 364[note 1] 48 1 +47 57.8 48.0 13,096,629 +3.9
  Conservative Edward Heath 629 253 0 51 −51 40.2 41.9 11,418,455 −1.5
  Liberal Jo Grimond 311 12 5 2 +3 1.9 8.5 2,327,457 −2.7
  SNP Arthur Donaldson 23 0 0 0 0 0.5 128,474 +0.3
  Ind. Republican N/A 5 0 0 0 0 0.2 62,782 N/A
  Communist John Gollan 57 0 0 0 0 0.2 62,092 0.0
  Plaid Cymru Gwynfor Evans 20 0 0 0 0 0.2 61,071 −0.1
  Independent N/A 15 0 0 0 0 0.1 35,039 N/A
  Republican Labour Gerry Fitt 1 1 1 0 +1 0.2 0.1 26,292 0.0
  Nationalist Eddie McAteer 1 0 0 0 0 0.1 22,167 N/A
  Independent Liberal N/A 3 0 0 0 0 0.0 5,689 N/A
  British National John Bean 3 0 0 0 0 0.0 5,182 0.0
  Ind. Conservative N/A 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 4,089 N/A
  Union Movement Oswald Mosley 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 4,075 N/A
  Independent Labour N/A 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 1,031 N/A
  Fellowship Ronald Mallone 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 906 0.0
  National Democratic David Brown 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 769 N/A
  National Teenage Screaming Lord Sutch 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 585 N/A
  Ind. Labour Party Emrys Thomas 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 441 0.0
  Socialist (GB) N/A 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 333 0.0
  Radical Alliance Pat Arrowsmith 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 163 N/A
  Patriotic Party Richard Hilton 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 126 0.0
All parties shown.[note 2]
Government's new majority 98
Total votes cast 27,264,747
Turnout 75.8%

Votes summary

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Popular vote
Labour
48.04%
Conservative
41.88%
Liberal
8.54%
Others
1.55%

Seats summary

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Parliamentary seats
Labour
57.78%
Conservative
40.16%
Liberal
1.90%
Others
0.16%

Incumbents defeated

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Party Name Constituency Office held whilst in Parliament Defeated by Party
Conservative Priscilla Buchan Aberdeen South Donald Dewar Labour
Forbes Hendry Aberdeenshire West James Davidson Liberal
Geoffrey Howe Bebington Edwin Brooks Labour
Norman Cole Bedfordshire South Gwilym Roberts Labour
William Anstruther-Gray Berwick and East Lothian Chairman of the 1922 Committee John Mackintosh Labour
Edward Gardner Billericay Eric Moonman Labour
Wyndham Davies Birmingham Perry Barr Christopher Price Labour
Arthur Tiley Bradford West Norman Haseldine Labour
Dudley Smith Brentford and Chiswick Michael Barnes Labour
Alan Hopkins Bristol North East Raymond Dobson Labour
Martin McLaren Bristol North West John Ellis Labour
Donald Box Cardiff North Ted Rowlands Labour
William Shepard Cheadle Michael Winstanley Liberal
Patricia Hornsby-Smith Chislehurst Alistair Macdonald Labour
Peter Thomas Conwy Ednyfed Hudson Davies Labour
James Scott-Hopkins Cornwall North John Pardoe Liberal
Richard Thompson Croydon South David Winnick Labour
Anthony Meyer Eton and Slough Joan Lestor Labour
Rolf Dudley-Williams Exeter Gwyneth Dunwoody Labour
Henry Brooke Hampstead Former Home Secretary Ben Whitaker Labour
Anthony Courtney Harrow East Roy Roebuck Labour
David Walder High Peak Peter Jackson Labour
Godfrey Lagden Hornchurch Alan Lee Williams Labour
Albert Cooper Ilford South Arnold Shaw Labour
Humphry Berkeley Lancaster Stan Henig Labour
Christopher Chataway Lewisham North Roland Moyle Labour
Patrick McNair-Wilson Lewisham West James Dickens Labour
John Barlow Middleton and Prestwich Denis Coe Labour
Peter Thorneycroft Monmouth Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Donald Anderson Labour
William Clark Nottingham South George Perry Labour
Montague Woodhouse Oxford Evan Luard Labour
Ian Montagu Fraser Plymouth Sutton David Owen Labour
Terence Clarke Portsmouth West Frank Judd Labour
Julian Amery Preston North Former Secretary of State for Air Ronald Atkins Labour
Peter Emery Reading John Lee Labour
Roy Wise Rugby William Price Labour
Martin Redmayne Rushcliffe Antony Gardner Labour
Peter Griffiths Smethwick Andrew Faulds Labour
John Fletcher-Cooke Southampton Test Bob Mitchell Labour
Samuel Storey Stretford Chairman of Ways and Means Ernest Davies Labour
William Yates The Wrekin Gerald Fowler Labour
Charles Curran Uxbridge John Ryan Labour
John Harvey Walthamstow East William Robinson Labour
Anthony Fell Great Yarmouth Hugh Gray Labour
Charles Longbottom York Alex Lyon Labour
Labour Patrick Duffy Colne Valley Richard Wainwright Liberal
Liberal Roderic Bowen Cardigan Elystan Morgan Labour
George Mackie Caithness and Sutherland Robert Maclennan Labour

Televised declarations

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

From BBC Parliament Replay
Constituency Winning party 1964 Constituency result 1966 by party Winning party 1966
Con Lab Lib PC SNP Others
Cheltenham Conservative 22,683 19,768 Conservative hold
Wolverhampton North East Labour 12,965 21,067 Labour hold
Wolverhampton South West Conservative 21,466 14,881 Conservative hold
Salford West Labour 13,257 19,237 Labour hold
Salford East Labour 9,000 18,409 Labour hold
Exeter Conservative 18,613 22,189 4,869 Labour gain
Devon North Liberal 15,631 6,127 16,797 Liberal hold
Smethwick Conservative 14,550 18,440 508 Labour gain
Nelson and Colne Labour 13,829 18,406 5,117 Labour hold
Leyton Labour 18,157 26,803 3,851 441 Labour recovery
Huyton Labour 20,182 41,132 585 Labour hold
Billericay Conservative 38,371 40,013 7,587 Labour gain
Preston South Labour 17,931 20,720 Labour hold
Bexley Conservative 26,377 24,044 4,405 Conservative hold
Brentford and Chiswick Conservative 14,031 14,638 2,063 Labour gain
Aberdeenshire West Conservative 13,956 6,008 15,151 Liberal gain
Taunton Conservative 22,359 19,216 5,460 Conservative hold
Monmouth Conservative 25,654 28,619 Labour gain
  • The 5,117 votes polled for the "Others" in Nelson and Colne were all polled for Patrick Downey, uncle of Lesley Ann Downey, who had been murdered by the Moors Murderers. Downey advocated the return of hanging.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b The seat and vote count figures for Labour given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons
  2. ^ The Conservative figure includes Ulster Unionists and National Liberals.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Thorpe, Andrew (1997). A History of the British Labour Party. London: Macmillan Education UK. p. 157. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0. ISBN 978-0-333-56081-5.
  2. ^ "1966: Wilson gains mandate", BBC News, 5 April 2005, retrieved 26 May 2018
  3. ^ "Election replay 1966", BBC News, 29 March 2006, retrieved 26 May 2018
  4. ^ 1966 General Election, BBC Parliament, retrieved 26 May 2018

Further reading

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  • Bromhead, Peter. "The General Election of 1966". Parliamentary Affairs 19.3 (1966): 332-345.
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Manifestos

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