British General Election February 1974
The British general election in February 1974 took place on February 28, 1974. It was the first of two general election that took place this year, and by 2010 the only choice since the Second World War , in which no party an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons received ( hung parliament ) . The ruling Conservative Party of Edward Heath was indeed almost the most votes. Most of the parliamentary seats, however, went to the Labor Party under Harold Wilson , u. a. due to the decision of the Ulster Unionist Party MPs not to submit to the Conservatives.
The British economy faced great difficulties from the start of the first oil crisis (October 1973). In March 1973 the Bretton Woods system (a system of almost rigid exchange rates) had collapsed; since then the pound sterling has been free on the stock exchanges.
After failed negotiations between Edward Heath and the Chairman of the Liberal Party , Jeremy Thorpe , Heath resigned and Wilson was the second time Prime Minister . In September, he called new elections for October 10, 1974.
In the February 1974 election, the results of the election in Northern Ireland differed significantly from the rest of the United Kingdom. All twelve elected MPs came from local parties, following the Ulster Unionist Party's decision to withdraw their support for the Conservatives in protest against the Sunningdale Accords . In addition, it was the first time that Plaid Cymru candidates won a regular election in Wales (previously they won a by-election).
Electoral system
The simple majority voting system was used for voting . There was no threshold clause .
Election results
Political party | be right | Seats | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
number | % | +/- | number | +/- | ||
Conservative party | 11,872,180 | 37.9 | −8.5 | 297 | −33 | |
Labor Party | 11,645,616 | 37.2 | −5.9 | 301 | +13 | |
Liberal party | 6,059,519 | 19.3 | +11.8 | 14th | +8 | |
Scottish National Party | 633.180 | 2.0 | +0.9 | 7th | +6 | |
Ulster Unionist Party | 232.103 | 0.8 | +0.8 | 7th | +7 | |
Plaid Cymru | 171,374 | 0.5 | −0.1 | 2 | +2 | |
Social Democratic and Labor Party | 160.137 | 0.5 | +0.5 | 1 | +1 | |
Pro-Assembly Unionist | 94,301 | 0.3 | +0.3 | - | - | |
British National Front | 76,865 | 0.2 | +0.2 | - | - | |
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party | 75,944 | 0.2 | +0.2 | 3 | +3 | |
Democratic Unionist Party | 58,656 | 0.2 | +0.1 | 1 | - | |
Independent liberal | 38,437 | 0.2 | - | - | - | |
Communist Party of Great Britain | 32,743 | 0.1 | - | - | - | |
Independent Labor | 29,892 | 0.1 | - | 1 | - | |
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | 22,660 | 0.1 | +0.1 | - | - | |
Independent | 18,180 | 0.1 | - | - | - | |
Unity | 17,593 | 0.1 | −0.4 | - | −2 | |
Independent socialist | 17,300 | 0.1 | - | - | - | |
Northern Ireland Labor Party | 17,284 | 0.1 | +0.1 | - | - | |
Republican clubs | 15,152 | 0.0 | - | - | - | |
Lincoln Democratic Labor Association | 14,780 | 0.0 | - | 1 | +1 | |
Independent Conservative | 11,451 | 0.0 | - | - | - | |
Others | 13,698 | 0.0 | - | - | - | |
total | 31,321,982 | 100.0 | 635 | |||
Eligible voters | 39,753,863 | |||||
voter turnout | 78.8% | |||||
Source: |
Total number of votes: 31,321,982. Some small parties with shares of votes below 0.1% are not shown. The seats of the Ulster Unionists have been compared to those of the Unionists in the 1970 election . The Protestant Unionist Party became the core of the Democratic Unionist Party, and its candidates were compared to the results of the Protestant Unionist of 1970. Gerry Fitt , the only MP of the Republican Labor Party elected in 1970 , later left the party to join the Social Democrat and Labor Party to co-found.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b General Election Results 1885–1979 United Kingdom Election Results (English)
- ↑ Karl-Heinz Wocker: Wilson's Voices Poker - The ultimatum to the European Community should bring the election victory . Die Zeit, 41/1974 of October 4, 1974.