United Kingdom general election, 1959
‹ 1955 · members  members · 1964 › | ||||
| United Kingdom general election, 1959 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All 630 seats to the House of Commons | ||||
| 8 October 1959 | ||||
| First party | Second party | Third party | ||
 | ||||
| Leader | Harold Macmillan | Hugh Gaitskell | Jo Grimond | |
| Party | Conservative | Labour | Liberal | |
| Leader since | 10 January 1957 | 14 December 1955 | 5 November 1956 | |
| Leader's seat | Bromley | Leeds (S) | Orkney and Shetland | |
| Last election | 345 seats, 49.7% | 277 seats, 46.4% | 6 seats, 2.7% | |
| Seats won | 365 | 258 | 6 | |
| Seat change | +20 | -19 | 0 | |
| Popular vote | 13,750,875 | 12,216,172 | 1,640,760 | |
| Percentage | 49.4% | 43.8% | 5.9% | |
| Swing | % | % | % | |
Incumbent PM Subsequent PM | ||||
| 1951 election • MPs |
| 1955 election • MPs |
| 1959 election • MPs |
| 1964 election • MPs |
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.
Contents |
Background
Following the Suez Crisis in 1956, Anthony Eden the Conservative Prime Minister became unpopular and resigned the following year. At this stage, the Labour Party, with its new leader Hugh Gaitskell enjoyed large opinion poll leads over the Conservatives, and it looked as if they could win. However Anthony Eden's successor Harold Macmillan revived the Conservatives' fortunes as the economy improved, and his personal approval ratings remained high. By September 1958 the Conservatives had moved ahead of Labour in the opinion polls.
Campaign
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. The Labour Party fought a generally effective campaign, with television broadcasts masterminded by Tony Benn. 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.[1]
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. 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.
| UK General Election 1959 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Standing | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % | ||||||
| Conservative | 625 | 365 | 28 | 8 | + 20 | 57.94 | 49.4 | 13,750,875 | |||||||
| Labour | 621 | 258 | 9 | 28 | - 19 | 40.95 | 43.8 | 12,216,172 | |||||||
| Liberal | 216 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.95 | 5.9 | 1,640,760 | |||||||
| Plaid Cymru | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 77,571 | ||||||||
| Sinn Féin | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - 2 | 0.2 | 63,415 | ||||||||
| Communist | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 30,896 | ||||||||
| SNP | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 21,738 | ||||||||
| Ind. Labour Group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 20,062 | ||||||||
| Independent Conservative | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | + 1 | 0.16 | 0.1 | 14,118 | |||||||
| Independent | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 7,492 | ||||||||
| Fife Socialist League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4,886 | ||||||||
| Independent Liberal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4,473 | ||||||||
| Union Movement | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2,821 | ||||||||
| Lancastrian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1,889 | ||||||||
| National Labour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1,685 | ||||||||
| Fellowship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1,189 | ||||||||
| Ind. Labour Party | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 923 | ||||||||
| Socialist (GB) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 899 | ||||||||
| Alert Party | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 788 | ||||||||
Total votes cast: 27,862,652. 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
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
See also
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.
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