British General Election 1923

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19231924 →

(in %)

 %

40

30th

20th

10

0

38.0

30.7

29.7

1.6

Tories

Labor

Liberals ^c

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1922

 % p

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

-0.5

+1.0

+0.9

-1.4

Tories

Labor

Liberals ^c

Otherwise.

Remarks:

^c 1922: Liberals and National Liberals

191

158

8th

258

191 158 8th 258 

A total of 615 seats

• Labor : 191
• Liberals : 158
• Otherwise: 8
• Tories : 258

The British general election in 1923 was held on December 6 1,923th The Conservatives won the majority of the seats, but suffered huge losses and lost their absolute majority in the House of Commons . The reunited Liberals received nearly 30% of the vote and more than 25% of the seats.

Results

Political party		Party leader	Candidates / seats in parliament						be right
			Candidates	Elected	Gain	loss	total	%	%	number	+/-%
	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin	536	258			- 86	41.95	38.0	5,286,159	−0.5
	Labor	Ramsay MacDonald	427	191			+ 49	31.06	30.7	4,267,831	+1.0
	Liberal	Herbert Henry Asquith	457	158			+ 96	25.69	29.7	4,129,922	+10.8
	Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)	Joseph Devlin	4th	3	0	0	0	0.49	0.4	54,157	k. A.
	Independent	k. A.	6th	2	0	1	- 1	0.33	0.3	36,802	−0.5
	Communist Party	Albert Inkpin	4th	0	0	1	- 1		0.2	34,258	0.0
	Belfast Labor Party	David Robb Campbell	1	0	0	0	0		0.2	22,255	k. A.
	Independent Labor	k. A.	4th	0	0	1	- 1		0.2	17,331	0.0
	Independent liberals	k. A.	3	1	1	1	0		0.1	16,184	0.0
	Constitutionalists	k. A.	1	0	0	1	- 1		0.1	15,500	0.0
	Independent Conservatives	k. A.	1	0	0	3	- 3		0.1	15,171	−0.8
	Scottish Prohibition Party	Edwin Scrymgeour	1	1	0	0	0		0.1	12,877	0.0
	Christian Pacifist	k. A.	1	1	0	0	0		0.0	570	k. A.
Source: www.parliament.uk

Election date

The previous election had taken place in November 1922. Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law resigned on May 22, 1923 for health reasons and Stanley Baldwin had succeeded him. Baldwin could have run the government without a new election; however, he wanted to strengthen the legitimacy of the conservatives as the ruling party. His party lost an absolute majority in the lower house (now 258 after 344 seats). Ramsay MacDonald (Labor) formed a minority government, which was possible thanks to the tolerance of the Liberals (158 MPs). It was the first time in British history that a Labor politician became Prime Minister .

Web links

• Conservative election manifesto
• Labor Party election manifesto
• Liberal election manifesto

Individual evidence

1. ↑ General Election Results 1885-1979 United Kingdom Election Results (English)
2. ↑ Election Statistics: UK 1918-2007. www.parliament.uk, January 1, 2008, accessed January 9, 2016 .