UK general election, 1974 (February)
The
UK general election of February 1974 was held on
February 28,
1974. It was the first of two
United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the only election since the
Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the
House of Commons for the winning party. The incumbent
Conservative government of
Edward Heath polled the most votes by a tiny margin, but the Tories were overtaken in terms of Commons seats by
Harold Wilson's
Labour Party due to the decision by
Ulster Unionist MPs not to take the Conservative
whip. After failed negotiations between Heath and
Liberal leader
Jeremy Thorpe, Heath resigned and Wilson returned for his second spell as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He would call
another election in October of the same year.
This election saw Northern Ireland diverging heavily from the rest of the UK, with all twelve MPs elected being from local parties, following the decision of the Ulster Unionists to withdraw support from the Conservative Party in protest over the Sunningdale Agreement.
Party
|
Votes
|
Seats
|
Loss/Gain
|
Share of Vote (%)
|
Conservative
|
11,834,346
|
296
|
- 34
|
37.7
|
Labour
|
11,641,143
|
301
|
+ 14
|
37.2
|
Liberal
|
6,059,550
|
14
|
+ 8
|
13.8
|
Others
|
1,800,059
|
23
|
+ 7
|
5.7
|