1950 United Kingdom general election in England

Main article: 1950 United Kingdom general election

The 1950 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950. It was the first election to be held after the abolition of plural voting and university constituencies in addition to a reorganization of constituencies by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. It was also the first election to be held after a full 5-year term of a Labour government in office.

1950 United Kingdom general election in England

←  1945 23 February 1950 1951  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
All 506 English seats in the House of Commons 254 seats needed for English majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Clement Attlee Winston Churchill Clement Davies Party Labour Conservative Liberal Leader since 25 October 1935 9 October 1940 2 August 1945 Leader's seat Walthamstow West Woodford Montgomeryshire Last election 331 seats, 48.5% 167 seats, 40.5% 5 seats, 9.4% Seats won 251 253 2 Seat change 80 68 3 Popular vote 11,050,966 [1] 10,499,392 [1] 2,248,127 [1] Percentage 46.1% 43.8% 9.4% Swing 2.4 pp 3.6 pp

While the Labour Party registered a narrow majority of 5 seats in the House of Commons, the Conservative Party won 2 seats more than Labour in England (a phenomenon which has since occurred only in 1964). However, in terms of the voteshare, Labour led by nearly 2.5% in England. The wafer-thin majority of the Labour government meant that another election had to be called in October 1951 in which the Conservatives won a narrow majority in the Commons as well as in England, despite Labour winning its highest ever share of the vote (and total raw votes). ^{[2] [3] [4]}

The turnout registered in this election remains the highest for any election in the post-war era.

Result Table

Party	Seats won	Net change in seats	Total votes (in millions)	Voteshare	Change in voteshare
Conservative	253	68	10,499,392	43.8%	3.6 pp
Labour	251	80	11,050,966	46.1%	2.4 pp
Liberal	2	3	2,248,127	9.4%
Other	0	7	155,963	0.7%	1.2 pp
Total	506	4	23,954,448	100%

Popular vote

Conservative			43.8%
Labour			46.1%
Liberal			9.4%
Other			0.7%

Parliamentary seats

Conservative			50.0%
Labour			49.0%
Liberal			0.4%

References

1. "UK Election Statistics: 1918–2023: A century of elections". House of Commons Library. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
2. Harmer, Emily (2021-10-06), "The Candidates: Making the House (of Commons) Their Home?", Women, media and elections, Policy Press, pp. 21–57, ISBN   978-1-5292-0494-0 , retrieved 2024-10-18
3. Craig, F. W. S. (1975), "The General Election of 1950", British General Election Manifestos 1900–1974, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 138–167, ISBN   978-1-349-02354-7 , retrieved 2024-10-18
4. Pelling, Henry (1984), "Labour and the 1950 Election: The Prospect and the Outcome", The Labour Governments, 1945–51, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 211–233, ISBN   978-1-349-17433-1 , retrieved 2024-10-18

Further reading

1. Nicholas, H. (1951). The British general election of 1950. London: Macmillan
2. "1950: Labour majority slashed". BBC News. 5 April 2005.
3. "Masters No More: Clement Attlee and the 'Revolt of the Suburbs'". The Critic. 23 February 2021