Home > UK general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. The election was also a setback for the Liberal Party under its new leader Jeremy Thorpe, which lost half its seats. The Conservatives, when combined with the Ulster Unionists, held a majority of 31 over all other parties.
Most opinion polls prior to the election had predicted a comfortable Labour victory, and had put Labour 12.4% ahead of the Conservatives. However on the day, a late swing put the Conservatives 3.4% ahead.
| Party
| Votes
| Seats
| Loss/Gain
| Share of Vote (%)
|
| Conservative
| 13,145,123
| 330
| + 77
| 46.4
|
| Labour
| 12,208,758
| 288
| - 76
| 43.1
|
| Liberal
| 2,117,035
| 6
| - 6
| 7.5
|
| SNP
| 306,802
| 1
| + 1
| 1.1
|
| Plaid Cymru
| 175,016
| 0
|
| 0.6
|
| UnityUnity Party is a term used in various variants by various political parties. Australia the Unity Party, a small multiculturist party. British Columbia ( Canada) the Unity Party of British Columbia, a provincial-level party. Canada Unity Party of Canada Qu
| 140,930
| 2
| + 2
| 0.4
|
| Independent
| 39,264
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| CommunistThe Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was a political party in the United Kingdom, which existed from 1920 to 1991. Formation The party was founded in 1920 after the Third International decided that greater attempts should be made to establish commu
| 37,970
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| Protestant UnionistThe Protestant Unionist Party PUP were a political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1966 to 1971. They are the forerunner of the modern Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and emerged from the Ulster Protestant Action (UPA) movement, changing to the P
| 35,303
| 1
| + 1
| 0.1
|
| Republican LabourThe Republican Labour Party was a political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at Stormont, Harry Diamond and Gerry Fitt. Each had previously been the sole Northern Ireland representatives of the Socialist Republican Party and
| 30,649
| 1
|
| 0.1
|
| Independent Labour
| 24,685
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| Independent Conservative
| 24,014
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| DemocraticThe Democratic Party is a minor political party operating in the United Kingdom. They were formed in 1998 by various people who felt there was scope for a party that placed democracy as its paramount political value. It asserts that its members come from
| 15,292
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| National Democratic (England)
| 14,276
| 0
|
| 0.1
|
| National Front
| 11,449
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| National Democratic (NI)
| 10,349
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| Vectis National
| 1,607
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
| Independent Liberal
| 1,456
| 0
|
| 0.0
|
Total votes cast: 28,305,534. All parties with more than 1,100 votes listed. The Conservative figure includes 8 Ulster Unionists.
UK General Election results
