Held just months after VE Day, it was the first general election to be held since 1935 (general elections had been cancelled for the duration of World War II). It resulted in the shock election defeat of the Conservatives led by Winston Churchill and the landslide victory of the Labour Party led by Clement Attlee, who won a majority of 145 seats.
The result of the election was almost totally unexpected, given the hero status of Winston Churchill, but reflected the voters' belief that the Labour Party were better able to rebuild the country following the war than the Conservatives.
The Conservatives had become associated with the unemployment and misery of the 1930s, during the Great Depression and there was little appetite for a return to pre-war Conservative policies. The Labour Party, on the other hand, promised to create full employment, a tax funded universal National Health Service, and a cradle-to-grave welfare state.
| Party | Votes | Seats | Loss/Gain | Share of Vote (%) |
| Labour | 11,967,746 | 393 | 48.0 | |
| Conservative | 9,101,099 | 197 | 36.2 | |
| Liberals | 2,252,430 | 12 | 9.0 | |
| National Liberals | 737,732 | 11 | 2.9 | |
| National Party | 133,179 | 3 | 0.2 | |
| Communist Party | 102,780 | 2 | + 1 | 0.4 |
| Independent Labour Party | 46,769 | 3 | 0.2 | |
| Irish Nationalists | 737,732 | 2 | 0.4 |