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February 1974 United Kingdom general election in England

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On Thursday 28 February 1974, the February 1974 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 635 members of the House of Commons, with 516 constituencies being in England. It was the first of two general elections held that year.

Quick facts All 516 English seats in the House of Commons, Turnout ...
February 1974 United Kingdom general election in England
← 1970
28 February 1974
October 1974 →
All 516 English seats in the House of Commons
Turnout79.0% (Increase7.6 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Lib
Leader Edward Heath Harold Wilson Jeremy Thorpe
Party Conservative Labour Liberal
Leader since 28 July 1965 14 February 1963 18 January 1967
Leader's seat Sidcup Huyton North Devon
Last election 292 seats, 48.3% 216 seats, 43.4% 2 seats, 7.9%
Seats won 268[a] 237 9
Seat change Decrease24 Increase21 Increase7
Popular vote 10,508,977 9,842,468 5,574,934
Percentage 40.2% 37.7% 21.3%
Swing Decrease8.1 pp Decrease5.8 pp Increase13.4 pp
Close

While in the House of Commons, there emerged a hung parliament with the Labour Party winning 301 seats to the 297 won by the Conservative Party, in England, the Conservatives won 268 seats to Labour's 237.[1]

The Labour Party led by former prime minister Harold Wilson formed a minority government on 4 March 1974 after the incumbent Conservative government led by Prime Minister Edward Heath failed to form a coalition government with the Liberal Party led by Jeremy Thorpe.

Both Labour and the Conservatives stood candidates in every seat in England, while the Liberal Party stood 452. Other parties stood a collective 190 candidates.[2] Notable figures who entered Parliament in English seats included future Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson in Blaby and Jonathan Aitken in East Thanet for the Conservatives.[3]

As no party commanded a majority, a second general election was held in October in which the Labour Party gained a wafer-thin majority in the House of Commons. However, even in that election, Labour failed to win a majority of seats in England, winning just two seats more than the defeated Conservatives.

Results

More information Party, Seats ...
Party[2] Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 268[a]N/aDecrease2451.910,508,97740.2Decrease8.1
Labour 237N/aIncrease2145.99,842,46837.7Decrease5.8
Liberal 970Increase71.75,574,93421.3Increase13.4
  Others 210Increase10.4215,2390.8Increase0.5
Total 516 26,141,618 79.0[4] Increase7.6
Close
Popular vote
Conservative
 
 40.2%
Labour
 
 37.7%
Liberal
 
 21.3%
Other
 
 0.8%
Parliament seats
Conservative
 
 51.9%
Labour
 
 45.9%
Liberal
 
 1.7%
Other
 
 0.4%

By region

Note: the following tables indicate the results according to the regions of England which were established in 1994. These regions were not used at the time for the purposes of this election.

The number of seats for each region that were changed under the second periodic review of Westminster constituencies are indicated respectively.

East Midlands

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in the East Midlands
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 19N/aSteady48.7N/a40.8Decrease7.5
Labour 19N/aIncrease148.7N/a40.7Decrease6.8
Liberal 000Steady0.0N/a16.8Increase12.3
  Others 1[b]00Steady2.6N/a1.8Increase1.3
Total 39 Increase1 N/a
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East of England

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in the East of England
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 3502Decrease277.8N/a41.2Decrease11.0
Labour 950Increase520.0N/a33.1Decrease7.1
Liberal 110Increase12.2N/a25.5Increase18.1
  Others 000Steady0.0N/a0.2Steady
Total 45 Increase4 N/a
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Greater London

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in London
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 50N/aDecrease554.3N/a40.5Decrease5.3
Conservative 42N/aDecrease545.7N/a37.6Decrease9.0
Liberal 000Steady0.0N/a20.7Increase13.8
  Others 000Steady0.0N/a1.2Increase0.5
Total 92 Decrease10 N/a
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  • Greater London
    Greater London

North East England

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in North East England
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 2501Decrease180.6N/a52.4Decrease7.2
Conservative 401Decrease112.9N/a33.4Decrease4.8
Liberal 110Increase13.2N/a12.4Increase10.2
  Others 11[c]0Increase13.2N/a1.8N/a[d]
Total 31 Steady N/a
Close

North West England

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in North West England
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 5181Increase762.2N/a41.5Decrease4.2
Conservative 29[a]010Decrease1035.4N/a38.5Decrease8.2
Liberal 220Increase22.4N/a19.3Increase12.1
  Others 000Steady0.0N/a0.7Increase0.3
Total 82 Decrease1 N/a
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South East England

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in South East England
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 64N/aIncrease691.4N/a46.8Decrease7.7
Labour 5N/aIncrease27.1N/a25.2Decrease6.9
Liberal 110Increase11.4N/a27.5Increase14.7
  Others 000Steady0.0N/a0.4Decrease0.3
Total 70 Increase9 N/a
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South West England

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in South West England
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 36N/aDecrease178.3N/a43.8Decrease7.7
Labour 7N/aIncrease115.2N/a26.4Decrease7.4
Liberal 310Increase16.5N/a29.5Increase15.0
  Others 000Steady0.0N/a0.4Increase0.3
Total 46 Increase1 N/a
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West Midlands

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 3390Increase958.9N/a43.1Decrease1.8
Conservative 2307Decrease741.1N/a40.8Decrease9.7
Liberal 000Steady0.0N/a14.9Increase10.7
  Others 000Steady0.0N/a1.1Increase0.7
Total 56 Increase2 N/a
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Yorkshire and the Humber

Further information: Parliamentary constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber
More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 3831Increase269.1N/a44.7Decrease5.5
Conservative 1604Decrease429.1N/a35.2Decrease6.6
Liberal 110Increase11.8N/a19.5Increase11.7
  Others 000Steady0.0N/a0.6Increase0.3
Total 55 Decrease1 N/a
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    Figure includes Speaker of the House of Commons Selwyn Lloyd who stood in Wirral.
  2. [b]
    This seat was retained by Dick Taverne for the Democratic Labour Party in Lincoln. Taverne retained the seat in the 1973 Lincoln by-election against Labour after the previous election following his de-selection and resignation, though had held Lincoln for the Labour Party in 1970.
  3. [c]
    Eddie Milne won Blyth Valley against Labour as an independent after being de-selected by the Labour Party.
  4. [d]
    No other party stood in 1970.

References

Further reading

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