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1970 United Kingdom general election in England

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The 1970 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 18 June 1970 to elect 630 members of the House of Commons, of which 511 constituencies were in England.

1970 United Kingdom general election in England
← 1966 18 June 1970 February 1974 →
← outgoing memberselected members →
All 511 English seats in the House of Commons
256 seats needed for English majority
  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 Bexley Huyton North Devon
Last election 219 seats, 42.7% 285 seats, 48.0% 6 seats, 21.3%
Seats won 292 216 2
Seat change Increase73 Decrease69 Decrease4
Percentage 48.3% 43.5% 7.9%
Swing Increase5.6% Decrease4.6% Decrease1.1%

In England, the Conservative Party led by Edward Heath scored a decisive victory by winning 292 seats over the incumbent Labour Party led by Prime Minister Harold Wilson which was restricted to 216 seats. Overall, the Conservative Party won 330 seats in the House of Commons while Labour won 288 seats.

This was the first general election to be held after the passage of the Representation of the People Act, thereby enabling citizens gain the eligibility to vote from the age of 18 (previously, it was 21).

Result Table

Party Seats won Net change in seats Total votes (in millions) Voteshare Change in voteshare
Conservative 292 Increase73 11.28 48.3% Increase5.6%
Labour 216 Decrease69 10.13 43.4% Decrease4.6%
Liberal 2 Decrease4 1.85 7.9% Decrease1.1%
Parliament seats
Conservative   57.14%
Labour   42.27%
Liberal   0.39%

References

  1. Pilling, Sam; Cracknell, Richard (18 August 2021). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2021: A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library.
  2. "Heath: The victory few predicted", BBC News,
  3. "1970: Heath's surprise victory", BBC News
  4. Richard Rose (1970). "Voting Trends Surveyed". The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1970. London: Times Newspapers Ltd. p. 31.
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