The 1924 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 29 October 1924, as a result of the defeat of the Labour minority government, led by Ramsay MacDonald, in the House of Commons on a motion of no confidence.[1] It was the third general election to be held in less than two years. Parliament was dissolved on 9 October.[2]
The Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin, performed better, in electoral terms, than in the 1923 general election and obtained a large parliamentary majority of 209. Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, lost 40 seats. The election also saw the Liberal Party, led by H. H. Asquith, lose 118 of their 158 seats which helped to polarise British politics between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
The Conservative landslide victory and the Labour defeat in this general election have been, in part, attributed to the Zinoviev letter, a forged document that was published as if it were genuine and sensationalized in the Daily Mail four days before the election. The Labour vote increased by around one million in comparison to the 1923 general election, but this was largely due to the party putting up 87 more candidates than it had in the previous election.
The Conservatives had called the previous 1923 election early to get a mandate for moving to a protectionist trade policy of imperial preference, but had lost their majority. In 1924, they reverted to free trade and regained power. They would propose protectionism in the next elections in 1929, again losing.
After the previous general election, the Labour Party had finished as the second-largest party, but formed their first-ever government with the support of the Liberal Party, after the ruling Conservative Party's shock loss of their majority made it untenable for Baldwin to continue as Prime Minister. However, relations between Labour and the Liberals proved stormy, eventually resulting in Liberal M.P. Sir John Simon calling a motion of no confidence in MacDonald's government, which was carried by a large majority. Asquith had gambled that neither Baldwin nor MacDonald would want to put the country through a third general election in two years, and that one of them would be forced to enter into a formal coalition with the Liberals. However, the gambit backfired when MacDonald instead called an election, knowing full well that a Conservative landslide was the only likely outcome, but himself gambling that it would be primarily at the expense of the Liberals. MacDonald's judgement proved correct, as the Liberals, who were still mostly dependent on former Prime Minister David Lloyd George for funds, ended up financially crippled from the very start of the campaign, while Labour were actually able to expand the scope of their own campaign thanks to increasing support from the workers' unions.
It is speculated that the combination of Labour forming its first government in January 1924 and the Zinoviev letter helped to stir up anti-socialist fears in Britain among many traditional anti-socialist Liberal voters, who then switched their support to the Conservative Party. This partly helps to explain the poor performance of the Liberal Party in the general election. The party also had financial difficulties which allowed it to contest only 339 seats, a lack of distinctive policies after the Conservative Party dropped their support for protected trade, and poor leadership under Asquith, who lost his own seat for the second time in six years. It would be the final election for Asquith, who was subsequently forced to lead the party from the House of Lords after being elevated to the Earldom of Oxford and Asquith the following year, with Lloyd George as Liberal chairman in the House of Commons. Declining health saw Asquith replaced as party leader by Lloyd George in 1926.
The fourth party in terms of number of candidates, number of seats and number of votes were not a party but a group of former National Liberals standing under the Constitutionalist label, led by Winston Churchill. They favoured Conservative/Liberal co-operation and had intended to formally organize as a party, but the election was called before they had the opportunity to actually do so. Three of the seven Constitutionalists elected, including Churchill, had been opposed by official Liberal candidates, and sat as Conservatives after the election. The other four sat as Liberals.
Total votes cast: 15,856,215. Turnout: 77.0%.[3][b]
Votes summary
Popular vote
Conservative
46.79%
Labour
30.68%
Liberal
17.78%
Others
4.75%
Seats summary
Parliamentary seats
Conservative
66.99%
Labour
24.55%
Liberal
6.50%
Others
1.96%
Transfers of seats
All comparisons are with the 1923 election.
In some cases the change is due to the MP defecting to the gaining party. Such circumstances are marked with a *.
In other circumstances the change is due to the seat having been won by the gaining party in a by-election in the intervening years, and then retained in 1924. Such circumstances are marked with a †.
^All parties shown. The only Irish Nationalist candidate was elected unopposed. The Conservatives include the Ulster Unionists.
References
^Graper, Elmer D. (1925). "The British Election". American Political Science Review. 19 (1): 84–96. doi:10.2307/2938896. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 2938896. S2CID 145751193.
^"Parliamentary Election Timetables" (PDF) (3rd ed.). House of Commons Library. 25 March 1997. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Further reading
Adelman, Paul. The decline of the Liberal Party 1910-1931 (Routledge, 2014).
Walker, Graham, and James Greer. "Religion, Labour, and National Questions: The General Election of 1924 in Belfast and Lanarkshire1." Labour History Review 84.3 (2019): 217-240.
External links
United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 8 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Manifestos
1924 Conservative manifesto
1924 Liberal manifesto
January 26, 2023
1924, united, kingdom, general, election, held, wednesday, october, 1924, result, defeat, labour, minority, government, ramsay, macdonald, house, commons, motion, confidence, third, general, election, held, less, than, years, parliament, dissolved, october, 19. The 1924 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 29 October 1924 as a result of the defeat of the Labour minority government led by Ramsay MacDonald in the House of Commons on a motion of no confidence 1 It was the third general election to be held in less than two years Parliament was dissolved on 9 October 2 1924 United Kingdom general election 1923 29 October 1924 1929 outgoing memberselected members All 615 seats in the House of Commons308 seats needed for a majorityTurnout77 0 5 9 First party Second party Third party Leader Stanley Baldwin Ramsay MacDonald H H AsquithParty Conservative Labour LiberalLast election 258 seats 38 0 191 seats 30 7 158 seats 29 7 Seats won 412 151 40Seat change 154 40 118Popular vote 7 418 983 5 281 626 2 818 717Percentage 46 8 33 3 17 8 Swing 8 8 2 6 11 9 Colours denote the winning party as shown in as shown in Results a Prime Minister before electionRamsay MacDonaldLabour Prime Minister after election Stanley BaldwinConservativeThe Conservatives led by Stanley Baldwin performed better in electoral terms than in the 1923 general election and obtained a large parliamentary majority of 209 Labour led by Ramsay MacDonald lost 40 seats The election also saw the Liberal Party led by H H Asquith lose 118 of their 158 seats which helped to polarise British politics between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party The Conservative landslide victory and the Labour defeat in this general election have been in part attributed to the Zinoviev letter a forged document that was published as if it were genuine and sensationalized in the Daily Mail four days before the election The Labour vote increased by around one million in comparison to the 1923 general election but this was largely due to the party putting up 87 more candidates than it had in the previous election The Conservatives had called the previous 1923 election early to get a mandate for moving to a protectionist trade policy of imperial preference but had lost their majority In 1924 they reverted to free trade and regained power They would propose protectionism in the next elections in 1929 again losing Contents 1 Overview 2 Results 2 1 Votes summary 2 2 Seats summary 3 Transfers of seats 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links 8 1 ManifestosOverview EditAfter the previous general election the Labour Party had finished as the second largest party but formed their first ever government with the support of the Liberal Party after the ruling Conservative Party s shock loss of their majority made it untenable for Baldwin to continue as Prime Minister However relations between Labour and the Liberals proved stormy eventually resulting in Liberal M P Sir John Simon calling a motion of no confidence in MacDonald s government which was carried by a large majority Asquith had gambled that neither Baldwin nor MacDonald would want to put the country through a third general election in two years and that one of them would be forced to enter into a formal coalition with the Liberals However the gambit backfired when MacDonald instead called an election knowing full well that a Conservative landslide was the only likely outcome but himself gambling that it would be primarily at the expense of the Liberals MacDonald s judgement proved correct as the Liberals who were still mostly dependent on former Prime Minister David Lloyd George for funds ended up financially crippled from the very start of the campaign while Labour were actually able to expand the scope of their own campaign thanks to increasing support from the workers unions It is speculated that the combination of Labour forming its first government in January 1924 and the Zinoviev letter helped to stir up anti socialist fears in Britain among many traditional anti socialist Liberal voters who then switched their support to the Conservative Party This partly helps to explain the poor performance of the Liberal Party in the general election The party also had financial difficulties which allowed it to contest only 339 seats a lack of distinctive policies after the Conservative Party dropped their support for protected trade and poor leadership under Asquith who lost his own seat for the second time in six years It would be the final election for Asquith who was subsequently forced to lead the party from the House of Lords after being elevated to the Earldom of Oxford and Asquith the following year with Lloyd George as Liberal chairman in the House of Commons Declining health saw Asquith replaced as party leader by Lloyd George in 1926 The fourth party in terms of number of candidates number of seats and number of votes were not a party but a group of former National Liberals standing under the Constitutionalist label led by Winston Churchill They favoured Conservative Liberal co operation and had intended to formally organize as a party but the election was called before they had the opportunity to actually do so Three of the seven Constitutionalists elected including Churchill had been opposed by official Liberal candidates and sat as Conservatives after the election The other four sat as Liberals The refounded Sinn Fein ran Westminster candidates for the first time since March 1919 none came close to winning with six of the eight losing their deposits Its next Westminster election was in 1950 Results Edit 412 151 40 12Conservative Labour Lib OUK General Election 1924 Candidates VotesParty Leader Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net of total No Net Conservative Stanley Baldwin 534 412 164 10 154 66 99 46 8 7 418 983 8 8 Labour Ramsay MacDonald 514 151 23 63 40 24 55 33 3 5 281 626 2 6 Liberal H H Asquith 339 40 10 128 118 6 5 17 8 2 818 717 11 9 Constitutionalist N A 12 7 7 0 7 1 14 1 2 185 075 1 1 Communist Albert Inkpin 8 1 1 0 1 0 16 0 2 51 176 0 1 Sinn Fein Eamon de Valera 8 0 0 0 0 0 2 34 181 N A Independent N A 7 2 1 1 0 0 2 25 206 0 1 NI Labour Sam Kyle 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 122 N A Scottish Prohibition Edwin Scrymgeour 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 14 596 0 0 Independent Liberal N A 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 241 0 1 Independent Labour N A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 775 0 1 Ind Unionist N A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 517 0 1 Irish Nationalist T P O Connor 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4Total votes cast 15 856 215 Turnout 77 0 3 b Votes summary Edit Popular voteConservative 46 79 Labour 30 68 Liberal 17 78 Others 4 75 Seats summary Edit Parliamentary seatsConservative 66 99 Labour 24 55 Liberal 6 50 Others 1 96 Transfers of seats EditAll comparisons are with the 1923 election In some cases the change is due to the MP defecting to the gaining party Such circumstances are marked with a In other circumstances the change is due to the seat having been won by the gaining party in a by election in the intervening years and then retained in 1924 Such circumstances are marked with a To From No SeatsCommunist Liberal 1 Battersea NorthLabour 16 Stirling and Falkirk Paisley Edinburgh East Gateshead Rochdale Bermondsey West Southwark Central Newcastle upon Tyne East Newcastle upon Tyne West Burslem Middlesbrough East Elland Keighley Penistone Bradford South DewsburyConservative 7 Motherwell Barrow in Furness Liverpool West Toxteth Lincoln Peckham Wolverhampton Bilston Birmingham King s NortonLabour gains 23Liberal Labour 8 Walthamstow West Bristol North Hackney South Norwich one of two Bradford East Batley and Morley Wrexham Swansea WestIndependent Liberal 1 Cardiganshire Liberal gains 9Conservative Labour 55 Stirlingshire West Renfrewshire East Dunbartonshire Lanark Glasgow Partick Lanarkshire North Renfrewshire West Glasgow Maryhill Kilmarnock Midlothian amp Peebles North Linlithgow Berwick amp Haddington Reading Birkenhead West Crewe Carlisle Whitehaven Derby one of two Barnard Castle Leyton East East Ham North Essex SE Maldon Upton Dartford Gravesend Bolton one of two Eccles Oldham one of two Salford North Salford South Salford West Warrington Leicester East Holland with Boston Greenwich Kennington Hammersmith North St Pancras North St Pancras South East Norfolk South Norwich one of two Kettering Northampton Enfield Tottenham South The Wrekin Frome Lichfield Ipswich Coventry Wakefield Bradford Central Pontefract Cardiff SouthLiberal 106 Bodmin Cornwall North Penryn and Falmouth St Ives Banff East Aberdeenshire amp Kincardineshire Aberdeen and Kincardine Central Forfarshire Perth Fife East Argyll Edinburgh West Edinburgh North Dumfriesshire Galloway Bedfordshire Mid Luton Abingdon Newbury Aylesbury Wycombe Huntingdonshire Isle of Ely Altrincham Birkenhead East Stalybridge and Hyde Stockport one of two Wirral Barnstaple South Molton Tavistock Tiverton Torquay Totnes Dorset North Stockton on Tees The Hartlepools Chelmsford Harwich Stroud Thornbury Basingstoke Portsmouth Central Isle of Wight Hemel Hempstead Kingston upon Hull South West Sevenoaks Blackpool Darwen Lancaster Lonsdale Preston one of two Manchester Blackley Manchester Exchange Manchester Moss Side Manchester Rusholme Manchester Withington Royton Bootle Liverpool Wavertree Liverpool West Derby Southport Bosworth Harborough Leicester South Gainsborough Horncastle Louth Hackney North Brixton Islington East Camberwell North West Hackney Central Stoke Newington Great Yarmouth King s Lynn Norfolk East Hexham Nottingham Central Nottingham East Finchley Willesden East Oxford Shrewsbury Bath Bridgwater Taunton Wells Weston super Mare Walsall Sudbury Chichester Nuneaton Rugby Chippenham Westbury Devizes Salisbury Cleveland Bradford North Sowerby Flintshire Pembrokeshire Brecon and Radnor Cardiff EastNational Liberal 1 LoughboroughIndependent 1 Harrow1Conservative gains 163Constitutionalist Liberal 5 Accrington Heywood and Radcliffe Stretford Stoke CamborneConservative 2 Epping Walthamstow EastUlster Unionist Nationalist 2 Fermanagh and Tyrone both seats 1 Previous MP had defected to Labour by the time of the 1924 electionSee also EditList of MPs elected in the 1924 United Kingdom general election 1924 United Kingdom general election in Northern IrelandNotes Edit Northern Ireland and university constituencies not shown All parties shown The only Irish Nationalist candidate was elected unopposed The Conservatives include the Ulster Unionists References Edit Graper Elmer D 1925 The British Election American Political Science Review 19 1 84 96 doi 10 2307 2938896 ISSN 0003 0554 JSTOR 2938896 S2CID 145751193 Parliamentary Election Timetables PDF 3rd ed House of Commons Library 25 March 1997 Retrieved 3 July 2022 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 8 July 2014 Retrieved 23 May 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Further reading EditAdelman Paul The decline of the Liberal Party 1910 1931 Routledge 2014 Craig F W S 1989 British Electoral Facts 1832 1987 Dartmouth Gower ISBN 0900178302 Walker Graham and James Greer Religion Labour and National Questions The General Election of 1924 in Belfast and Lanarkshire1 Labour History Review 84 3 2019 217 240 External links EditUnited Kingdom election results summary results 1885 1979 Archived 8 October 2020 at the Wayback MachineManifestos Edit 1924 Conservative manifesto 1924 Labour manifesto 1924 Liberal manifesto Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1924 United Kingdom general election amp oldid 1127426752, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
