The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was won by the Labour Party with a
majority of four seats. It was held on 15 October 1964, just over five years
after the previous election, and 13 years after the Conservative Party had
retaken power. Both major parties had changed leaders in 1963: after the
sudden death of Hugh Gaitskell early in the year, Labour chose Harold Wilson,
while Sir Alec Douglas-Home had taken over as Conservative leader and prime
minister in the autumn after Harold Macmillan announced his resignation.
Douglas-Home shortly afterwards disclaimed his title under the Peerage
Act 1963 in order to lead the party from the Commons.
Macmillan had led the Conservatives in government since January 1957 and
despite initial popularity and a resounding election victory in 1959, had
become increasingly unpopular in the early 1960s, and Douglas-Home faced a
difficult task in rebuilding the party's popularity with just a year elapsing
between taking office and having to face a general election. Wilson had begun to
try to tie the Labour Party to the growing confidence of Britain in the
1960s, asserting that the "white heat of revolution" would sweep away
"restrictive practices... on both sides of industry". The Liberal Party enjoyed
a resurgence after a virtual wipeout in the 1950s and doubled its share of the
vote, primarily at the expense of the Conservatives. Although Labour did not
increase its vote share significantly, the fall in support for the
Conservatives led to Wilson securing a overall majority of four seats. This
proved to be unworkable and Wilson called a snap election in 1966.
The election night was broadcast live by the BBC, and was presented by Richard
Dimbleby, with Robin Day, Ian Trethowan, Cliff Michelmore and David Butler.
Campaign The pre-election campaign was prolonged,
as Douglas-Home delayed calling a general election to give himself as much
time as possible to improve the prospects of his party. The election
campaign formally began 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 of the political scene at the time. While
George Brown, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, toured the country making
energetic speeches, Quintin Hogg was a leading spokesman for the Conservatives.
The image of Hogg lashing out at a 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: in particular
Douglas-Home was treated very roughly at a meeting in Birmingham.
Opinion poll summary NOP: Lab swing 3.5%
Gallup: Lab swing 4% Research Services: Lab swing 2.75%
Daily Express: Lab swing of 1.75%. Results
The election resulted in a very slim majority of four seats for the Labour
Party, and led to them being in government for the first time since
1951. Labour achieved a swing of just over 3%, although its vote rose by only
0.2%. The main shift was the swing from the Conservatives to the Liberals of
5.7%. The Liberals won nearly twice as many votes as in 1959, partly because
they had 150 more candidates. Wilson became Prime Minister, replacing
Douglas-Home. The four-seat majority was not sustainable for a full Parliament,
and Wilson called another general election in 1966. In particular, the
small majority meant the government could not implement party policy of
nationalising the steel industry, due to the opposition of two of its
backbenchers, Woodrow Wyatt and Desmond Donnelly.
The election was also the only time in Britain's recent history when all seats
were won by the three main parties: no minor parties, independents or splinter
groups won any seats. All parties are shown. Conservative
total includes Scottish Unionists, Ulster Unionists, and National Liberals.
= Votes summary= Headline Swing: 3.1% to Labour
= Seats summary= = Regional Results=
Great Britain = England=
= Scotland= = Wales=
Northern Ireland Incumbents defeated
= Conservative= Ernest Partridge
Sir Douglas Marshall Edwin Taylor
Sir William Taylor, 1st Baronet David James(Brighton Kemptown)
John Bidgood Donald McIntosh Johnson
Anthony Bourne-Arton Anthony Barber - Minister of Health
John Arbuthnot Graeme Finlay
Frank Lilley Peter Michael Kirk - Under-Secretary of
State for War Maurice Macmillan
Tony Leavey Martin Madden
Denys Bullard Michael Coulson - Parliamentary Private
Secretary Norman Pannell
Reginald Bevins - Postmaster General Sir Kenneth Thompson, 1st Baronet
John Woollam Eric Johnson
Eveline Hill Geoffrey Rippon
John Cordeaux Alan Green - Financial Secretary to the
Treasury Sir Hugh Linstead
Sir Norman John Hulbert DL Sir Harold Macdonald Steward
Paul Williams Michael Hughes-Young - Treasurer of the
Household Frederick Farey-Jones
Colin Turner Philip Holland
William Compton Carr John Hollingworth
Leslie Seymour Leonard Cleaver
Sir Alan Glyn Wilf Proudfoot
Philip Hocking Geoffrey Johnson Smith
Marcus Worsley Gordon Matthews
Fergus Montgomery Peter Tapsell
Julian Critchley Hugh Rees
John Kearns Michael Hamilton - Lord Commissioner of
the Treasury Trevor Skeet
Neil McLean Sir John MacLeod
= Labour= Charles Howell
Fenner Brockway Albert Hilton
Patrick Gordon Walker - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
= Liberal= Arthur Holt
Donald Wade - Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
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 Further reading
Barberis, Peter. "The 1964 General Election and the Liberals' False Dawn,"
Contemporary British History, 21#3 pp 373–387
Butler, David E. et al. The British General Election of 1964 the standard
scholarly study F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts:
1832-1987 Denver, David. "The 1964 General
Election: Explaining Voting Behaviour Then and Now," Contemporary British
History 21#3 pp 295–307 Favretto, Ilaria. "'Wilsonism'
reconsidered: Labour party revisionism 1952–64," Contemporary British History
14#4 pages 54–80 doi:10.1080/13619460008581603
Fielding, Steven. "Rethinking Labour's 1964 Campaign," Contemporary British
History, 21#3 pp 309–324 Heppell, Timothy. "The Labour Party
Leadership Election of 1963: Explaining the Unexpected Election of Harold
Wilson," Contemporary British History, 24#2 pp 151–171
Morgan, Austen. Harold Wilson 625pp Tomlinson, Jim. "It's the Economy,
Stupid! Labour and the Economy, circa 1964," Contemporary British History,
21#3 pp 337–349 Wrigley, Chris. "Trade Unions and the
1964 General Election," Contemporary British History, 21#3 pp 325–335
Young, John W. "International Factors and the 1964 Election," Contemporary
British History, 21#3 pp 351–371 External links
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.