Wilson decided to call a snap election since his government, elected a mere 17 months previously, in 1964, had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs. The Labour government was returned following this snap election with a much larger majority of 98 seats. This was the last British general election in which the voting age was 21; Wilson's government passed an amendment to the Representation of the People Act in 1969 to include eligibility to vote at age 18, which was in place for the next general election in 1970.
Prior to the 1966 general election, Labour had performed poorly in local elections in 1965, and lost a by-election, cutting their majority to just two. Shortly after the local elections, the leader of the Conservative Party Alec Douglas-Home was replaced by Edward Heath in the 1965 leadership election.
Despite setbacks and a small majority, Labour believed it had an advantage due to the disorientation from the change of leadership at the Conservative Party, the improvement of economic conditions under its brief government, and a victory at the 1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election.[1] The Conservatives had not had much time to prepare their campaign, although it was more professional than previously. There had been little time for Heath to become well known among the British public, having led the party for just eight months before the election. For the Liberal Party, money was an issue: two elections in the space of just two years had left the party in a tight financial position and had to field fewer candidates.[2] Labour ran its campaign with the slogan "You know Labour government works" and avoided commenting on controversial issues such as European integration, trade unions, and nationalisation.[1]
Although the BBC's telecast was in black and white, a couple of colour television cameras were placed in the BBC election studio at Television Centre to allow CBS's Charles Collingwood and NBC's David Brinkley to file live reports from that studio by satellite and in colour for their respective networks' evening news programmes (which were transmitted at 11:30 pm British time, 6:30 pm Eastern Standard Time).
Research Services: 3% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 101)
National opinion polls: 3.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 115)
Gallup: 4.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of 150)
Express (known as Harris): 7.5% swing to Labour (forecast majority of in excess of 255)
Resultsedit
The Labour Party performed very well in the election and expanded its previously slim majority against the Conservative opposition to 97 seats, accomplishing a net gain of 48 seats. It won 364 seats from 48 per cent of the vote, against 253 seats from 41.4 per cent for the Conservatives and 12 seats from 8 per cent for the Liberals. A major reason for the Labour victory was the revitalization of the party's working-class support in the 1960s. It captured its highest support yet from manual laborers at 69 per cent, as well as its best performance for non-manual laborers since 1945. The government also appealed to both the right wing of the party with its cabinet dominated by junior ministers of the Attlee ministry as well as the left wing by the presence of officials such as Prime Minister Wilson, Richard Crossman, Barbara Castle, and Frank Cousins.[1] Although the party would go on to win more seats under Tony Blair in 1997 and 2001, Labour have never since matched the 48% of the popular vote they won in 1966.
The 5,117 votes polled for the "Others" in Nelson and Colne were all polled for Patrick Downey, uncle of Lesley Ann Downey, who had been murdered by the Moors Murderers. Downey advocated the return of hanging.
^ abcThorpe, Andrew (1997). A History of the British Labour Party. London: Macmillan Education UK. p. 157. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0. ISBN978-0-333-56081-5.
^"1966: Wilson gains mandate", BBC News, 5 April 2005, retrieved 26 May 2018
^"Election replay 1966", BBC News, 29 March 2006, retrieved 26 May 2018
^1966 General Election, BBC Parliament, retrieved 26 May 2018
Further readingedit
Butler, David E.; et al. (1966), The British General Election of 1966, the standard scholarly study.
United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 23 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
Manifestosedit
, 1966 Conservative Party manifesto
, 1966 Labour Party manifesto
, 1966 Liberal Party manifesto
May 04, 2024
1966, united, kingdom, general, election, held, thursday, march, 1966, result, landslide, victory, labour, party, incumbent, prime, minister, harold, wilson, 1964, march, 1966, 1970, outgoing, memberselected, members, seats, house, commons316, seats, needed, m. The 1966 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 31 March 1966 The result was a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson 1966 United Kingdom general election 1964 31 March 1966 1970 outgoing memberselected members All 630 seats in the House of Commons316 seats needed for a majorityOpinion pollsTurnout75 8 1 3 First party Second party Third party Leader Harold Wilson Edward Heath Jo Grimond Party Labour Conservative Liberal Leader since 14 February 1963 28 July 1965 5 November 1956 Leader s seat Huyton Bexley Orkney and Shetland Last election 317 seats 44 1 304 seats 43 4 9 seats 11 2 Seats won 364 note 1 253 12 Seat change 47 51 3 Popular vote 13 096 951 11 418 433 2 327 533 Percentage 48 0 41 9 8 5 Swing 3 9 1 5 2 7 Colours denote the winning party as shown in ResultsComposition of the House of Commons after the electionPrime Minister before election Harold Wilson Labour Prime Minister after election Harold Wilson Labour Wilson decided to call a snap election since his government elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs The Labour government was returned following this snap election with a much larger majority of 98 seats This was the last British general election in which the voting age was 21 Wilson s government passed an amendment to the Representation of the People Act in 1969 to include eligibility to vote at age 18 which was in place for the next general election in 1970 Contents 1 Background 2 Timeline 3 Opinion polling 4 Results 4 1 Votes summary 4 2 Seats summary 5 Incumbents defeated 5 1 Conservative 5 2 Labour 5 3 Liberal 6 Televised declarations 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links 11 1 ManifestosBackground editPrior to the 1966 general election Labour had performed poorly in local elections in 1965 and lost a by election cutting their majority to just two Shortly after the local elections the leader of the Conservative Party Alec Douglas Home was replaced by Edward Heath in the 1965 leadership election Despite setbacks and a small majority Labour believed it had an advantage due to the disorientation from the change of leadership at the Conservative Party the improvement of economic conditions under its brief government and a victory at the 1966 Kingston upon Hull North by election 1 The Conservatives had not had much time to prepare their campaign although it was more professional than previously There had been little time for Heath to become well known among the British public having led the party for just eight months before the election For the Liberal Party money was an issue two elections in the space of just two years had left the party in a tight financial position and had to field fewer candidates 2 Labour ran its campaign with the slogan You know Labour government works and avoided commenting on controversial issues such as European integration trade unions and nationalisation 1 The election night was broadcast live on the BBC was presented by Cliff Michelmore Ian Trethowan Robin Day Robert McKenzie and David Butler The election was replayed on the BBC Parliament channel on the 40th anniversary of the event 3 and again in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the election 4 Although the BBC s telecast was in black and white a couple of colour television cameras were placed in the BBC election studio at Television Centre to allow CBS s Charles Collingwood and NBC s David Brinkley to file live reports from that studio by satellite and in colour for their respective networks evening news programmes which were transmitted at 11 30 pm British time 6 30 pm Eastern Standard Time Timeline editThe Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced on 28 February that Parliament would be dissolved on 10 March for an election to be held on 31 March The key dates were as follows Thursday 10 March Dissolution of the 43rd Parliament and campaigning officially begins Monday 21 March Last day to file nomination papers 1 707 candidates enter to contest 630 seats Wednesday 30 March Campaigning officially ends Thursday 31 March Polling day Friday 1 April The Labour Party wins with an improved majority of 98 Monday 18 April 44th Parliament assembles Thursday 21 April State Opening of ParliamentOpinion polling editMain article Opinion polling for the 1966 United Kingdom general election Research Services 3 swing to Labour forecast majority of 101 National opinion polls 3 5 swing to Labour forecast majority of 115 Gallup 4 5 swing to Labour forecast majority of 150 Express known as Harris 7 5 swing to Labour forecast majority of in excess of 255 Results editThe Labour Party performed very well in the election and expanded its previously slim majority against the Conservative opposition to 97 seats accomplishing a net gain of 48 seats It won 364 seats from 48 per cent of the vote against 253 seats from 41 4 per cent for the Conservatives and 12 seats from 8 per cent for the Liberals A major reason for the Labour victory was the revitalization of the party s working class support in the 1960s It captured its highest support yet from manual laborers at 69 per cent as well as its best performance for non manual laborers since 1945 The government also appealed to both the right wing of the party with its cabinet dominated by junior ministers of the Attlee ministry as well as the left wing by the presence of officials such as Prime Minister Wilson Richard Crossman Barbara Castle and Frank Cousins 1 Although the party would go on to win more seats under Tony Blair in 1997 and 2001 Labour have never since matched the 48 of the popular vote they won in 1966 nbsp UK General Election 1966 Candidates Votes Party Leader Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net of total No Net Labour Harold Wilson 622 364 note 1 48 1 47 57 8 48 0 13 096 629 3 9 Conservative Edward Heath 629 253 0 51 51 40 2 41 9 11 418 455 1 5 Liberal Jo Grimond 311 12 5 2 3 1 9 8 5 2 327 457 2 7 SNP Arthur Donaldson 23 0 0 0 0 0 5 128 474 0 3 Independent Republican N A 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 62 782 N A Communist John Gollan 57 0 0 0 0 0 2 62 092 0 0 Plaid Cymru Gwynfor Evans 20 0 0 0 0 0 2 61 071 0 1 Independent N A 15 0 0 0 0 0 1 35 039 N A Republican Labour Gerry Fitt 1 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 26 292 0 0 Nationalist Eddie McAteer 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 22 167 N A Independent Liberal N A 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 689 N A British National John Bean 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 182 0 0 Ind Conservative N A 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 089 N A Union Movement Oswald Mosley 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 075 N A Independent Labour N A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 031 N A Fellowship Ronald Mallone 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 906 0 0 National Democratic David Brown 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 769 N A National Teenage Screaming Lord Sutch 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 585 N A Ind Labour Party Emrys Thomas 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 441 0 0 Socialist GB N A 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 333 0 0 Radical Alliance Pat Arrowsmith 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 163 N A Patriotic Party Richard Hilton 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 126 0 0All parties shown note 2 Government s new majority 98 Total votes cast 27 264 747 Turnout 75 8 Votes summary edit Popular vote Labour 48 04 Conservative 41 88 Liberal 8 54 Others 1 55 Headline swing 2 7 to Labour Seats summary edit Parliamentary seats Labour 57 78 Conservative 40 16 Liberal 1 90 Others 0 16 Incumbents defeated editConservative edit Priscilla Buchan Lady Tweedsmuir Aberdeen South Forbes Hendry West Aberdeenshire Geoffrey Howe Bebington Norman Cole South Bedfordshire Sir William Anstruther Gray 1st Baronet Berwick and East Lothian Chairman of the 1922 Committee Edward Gardner Billericay Wyndham Davies Birmingham Perry Barr Arthur Tiley Bradford West Dudley Smith Brentford and Chiswick Alan Hopkins Bristol North East Martin McLaren Bristol North West Donald Box Cardiff North William Shepard Cheadle Dame Patricia Hornsby Smith Chislehurst Peter Thomas Conwy James Scott Hopkins North Cornwall Sir Richard Thompson 1st Baronet Croydon South Sir Anthony Meyer Eton and Slough Sir Rolf Dudley Williams 1st Baronet Exeter Henry Brooke Hampstead former Secretary of State for the Home Department Anthony Courtney Harrow East David Walder High Peak Godfrey Lagden Hornchurch Albert Cooper Ilford South Humphry Berkeley Lancaster Christopher Chataway Lewisham North Patrick McNair Wilson Lewisham West Sir John Barlow 2nd Baronet Middleton and Prestwich Peter Thorneycroft Monmouth former Chancellor William Clark Nottingham South Montague Woodhouse Oxford Ian Montagu Fraser Plymouth Sutton Terence Clarke Portsmouth West Julian Amery Preston North former Secretary of State for Air Peter Emery Reading Roy Wise Rugby Sir Martin Redmayne 1st Baronet Rushcliffe Peter Griffiths Smethwick Sir John Fletcher Cooke Southampton Test Sir Samuel Storey 1st Baronet Stretford Chairman of Ways and Means William Yates The Wrekin Charles Curran Uxbridge John Harvey Walthamstow East Anthony Fell Great Yarmouth Charles Longbottom City of York Labour edit Patrick Duffy Colne Valley Liberal edit Roderic Bowen Ceredigion George Mackie Caithness and Sutherland Televised declarations editThese declarations were covered live by the BBC where the returning officer was heard to say duly elected From BBC Parliament Replay Constituency Winning party 1964 Constituency result 1966 by party Winning party 1966 Con Lab Lib PC SNP Others Cheltenham Conservative 22 683 19 768 Conservative hold Wolverhampton North East Labour 12 965 21 067 Labour hold Wolverhampton South West Conservative 21 466 14 881 Conservative hold Salford West Labour 13 257 19 237 Labour hold Salford East Labour 9 000 18 409 Labour hold Exeter Conservative 18 613 22 189 4 869 Labour gain Devon North Liberal 15 631 6 127 16 797 Liberal hold Smethwick Conservative 14 550 18 440 508 Labour gain Nelson and Colne Labour 13 829 18 406 5 117 Labour hold Leyton Labour 18 157 26 803 3 851 441 Labour recovery Huyton Labour 20 182 41 132 585 Labour hold Billericay Conservative 38 371 40 013 7 587 Labour gain Preston South Labour 17 931 20 720 Labour hold Bexley Conservative 26 377 24 044 4 405 Conservative hold Brentford and Chiswick Conservative 14 031 14 638 2 063 Labour gain Aberdeenshire West Conservative 13 956 6 008 15 151 Liberal gain Taunton Conservative 22 359 19 216 5 460 Conservative hold Monmouth Conservative 25 654 28 619 Labour gain The 5 117 votes polled for the Others in Nelson and Colne were all polled for Patrick Downey uncle of Lesley Ann Downey who had been murdered by the Moors Murderers Downey advocated the return of hanging See also editList of MPs elected in the 1966 United Kingdom general election 1966 United Kingdom general election in Northern IrelandNotes edit a b The seat and vote count figures for Labour given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons The Conservative figure includes Ulster Unionists and National Liberals References edit a b c Thorpe Andrew 1997 A History of the British Labour Party London Macmillan Education UK p 157 doi 10 1007 978 1 349 25305 0 ISBN 978 0 333 56081 5 1966 Wilson gains mandate BBC News 5 April 2005 retrieved 26 May 2018 Election replay 1966 BBC News 29 March 2006 retrieved 26 May 2018 1966 General Election BBC Parliament retrieved 26 May 2018Further reading editButler David E et al 1966 The British General Election of 1966 the standard scholarly study Craig F W S 1989 British Electoral Facts 1832 1987 Dartmouth Gower ISBN 0900178302External links editUnited Kingdom election results summary results 1885 1979 Archived 23 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine Manifestos edit Action Not Words The New Conservative Programme 1966 Conservative Party manifesto Time for Decision 1966 Labour Party manifesto For All the People the Liberal Plan of 1966 1966 Liberal Party manifesto Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1966 United Kingdom general election amp oldid 1214276388, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
