United Kingdom general election, 1964

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United Kingdom general election, 1964
All 630 seats to the House of Commons
15 October 1964
		First party	Second party	Third party
Leader		Harold Wilson	Alec Douglas-Home	Jo Grimond
Party		Labour	Conservative	Liberal
Leader since		14 February 1963	18 October 1963	5 November 1956
Leader's seat		Huyton	Kinross & Western Perthshire	Orkney and Shetland
Last election		258 seats, 43.8%	365 seats, 49.4%	6 seats, 5.9%
Seats won		317	304	9
Seat change		+59	-61	+3
Popular vote		12,205,808	12,002,642	3,099,283
Percentage		44.1%	43.4%	11.2%
Swing		%	%	%
Incumbent PM Alec Douglas-Home Conservative Subsequent PM Harold Wilson Labour

The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after its predecessor, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had first taken power. Both major parties had changed leaders in 1963: after the sudden death of Hugh Gaitskell, Labour chose Harold Wilson (who was then thought of as being on the party's centre left), and the Conservatives had unexpectedly chosen Alec Douglas-Home (then the Earl of Home) as their new leader after Harold Macmillan announced his resignation (Home shortly after disclaimed his title under the Peerage Act 1963 in order to lead the party from the Commons). Macmillan's government had been increasingly unpopular in the mid-term, and Douglas-Home faced a difficult task in rebuilding the party's popularity. Wilson had begun to try to tie the Labour Party to the growing confidence of Britain in the 1960s, arguing that the technological revolution would sweep away restrictive practices on both sides of industry.

Campaign

The pre-election campaign was prolonged as Douglas-Home delayed calling a general election in order to try to give himself the maximum time to improve the prospects of his party. The starting gun of the campaign was fired on 15 September 1964 when Douglas-Home saw the Queen and asked for a dissolution of Parliament. The campaign was dominated by some of the more voluble characters on the political scene: George Brown, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, toured the country making energetic speeches and the occasional gaffe, and Quintin Hogg for the Conservatives responded in kind. The image of Hogg lashing out at a Harold Wilson poster with his walking stick was one of the most striking of the campaign. Many party speakers, especially at televised rallies, had to deal with hecklers: Sir Alec Douglas-Home in particular was treated very roughly in a meeting at Birmingham.

National opinion poll summary

NOP: Lab swing 3.5% (Lab majority of 12)
Gallup: Lab swing 4% (Lab majority of 23)
Research Services: Lab swing 2.75% (Con majority of 30)
Daily Express: Lab swing of 1.75% (Con majority of 60)

Results

The election resulted in a very slim majority for the Labour Party, of four seats, and led to their first government since 1951. Labour achieved a swing of just over 3% although its own vote rose by only 0.2%. The Liberal Party won nearly twice as many votes as in 1959, but did so partly by nominating 150 more candidates. Harold Wilson became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, replacing Sir Alec Douglas-Home. The majority was not sustainable for a full Parliament and Wilson called another general election in 1966. In particular, the small majority of Wilson's government resulted in its being unable to implement the party's policy of nationalising the steel industry, due to the opposition of two of its back benchers: Woodrow Wyatt and Desmond Donnelly.

The election also saw the only time in the UK's recent history where all seats were divided between only the three main parties; that is, no minor parties, independents or splinter groups were able to obtain a seat.

Total votes cast on 15 October 1964: 27,657,148. All parties are shown. Conservative total includes Ulster Unionists and National Liberals.

Votes summary

Headline Swing: 3.10% to Labour

Seats summary

Seats Changing Hands

From Conservative to Labour (63 seats): Battersea South, Bolton East, Bradford North, Brighton Kemptown, Buckingham, Bury and Radcliffe, Carlisle, Darlington, Doncaster, Dover, Dulwich, Ealing North, Epping, Glasgow Kelvingrove, Glasgow Pollok, Glasgow Woodside, Gravesend, Halifax, Heywood and Royton, Hitchin, King's Lynn, Kingston upon Hull North, Liverpool Kirkdale, Liverpool Toxteth, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool West Derby, Luton, Manchester Blackley, Manchester Wythenshawe, Middlesbrough West, Norwich South, Nottingham Central, Preston South, Putney, Renfrewshire West, Rutherglen, Stockport North, Stockport South, Sunderland South, Wandsworth Central, Watford, Woolwich West, Acton, Barons Court, Birmingham All Saints, Birmingham Sparkbrook, Birmingham Yardley, Clapham, Cleveland, Coventry South, Derbyshire South East, Holborn and St Pancras South, Keighley, Meriden, Newcastle upon Tyne East, Nottingham West, Rochester and Chatham, Rowley Regis and Tipton, Swansea West, The Hartlepools, Wellingborough, Willesden East and Willesden West
From Conservative to Liberal (4 seats): Bodmin, Inverness, Orpington and Ross and Cromarty
From Labour to Conservative (4 seats): Birmingham Perry Barr, Eton and Slough, Norfolk South West and Smethwick
From Liberal to Labour (2 seats): Bolton West and Huddersfield West
From Independent to Liberal (1 seat): Caithness and Sutherland

Televised declarations

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

• Orpington was won by the Liberals in a by-election in 1962 and held in the general election. When this happens, it is described as a "win" as opposed to a "gain" or "hold".

See also

• MPs elected in the UK general election, 1964

References

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• United Kingdom election results - summary results 1885-1979

Manifestos

• "PROSPERITY WITH A PURPOSE" - 1964 Conservative manifesto.
• "THE NEW BRITAIN" - 1964 Labour Party manifesto.
• "THINK FOR YOURSELF" - 1964 Liberal Party manifesto.

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