1964 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 15 October 1964 and all 71 seats in Scotland were contested.[1] The election saw both Labour and the Liberals pick up seats from the Unionists. The National Liberals, who were aligned with the Unionists, lost all their remaining seats.

1964 United Kingdom general election

← 1959 15 October 1964 1966 →

All 71 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Harold Wilson Alec Douglas-Home Jo Grimond
Party Labour Unionist Liberal
Last election 38 seats, 46.7% 31 seats, 47.3% 1 seat, 4.1%
Seats won 43 24[a] 4
Seat change Increase5 Decrease7 Increase 3
Popular vote 1,283,667 1,069,695 200,063
Percentage 48.7 40.6 7.6%
Swing Increase 2.0 Decrease6.7% Increase3.5%

Results of the 1964 election in Scotland
  Conservative/Unionist
  Labour
  Liberal

Combined with results from across the UK, the election resulted in the Conservative and Unionist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, narrowly losing to Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson; Labour secured a parliamentary majority of four seats and ended a thirteen-year period in opposition. Wilson became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Rosebery in 1894.

The election was the last election fought by the Unionists as a separate party. From April 1965 the party was renamed as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, and became the Scottish branch of the UK Conservative Party.[2][3]

List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1964–1966)

Results

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Party Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
  Labour Party 43   5 1,283,667 48.7   2.0
  Conservative and Unionist (Total) 24  7 1,069,695 40.6  6.7
  Unionist 24   1 981,641 37.3   2.5
  National Liberal & Conservative 0   6 88,054 3.3   4.2
  Liberal 4   3 200,063 7.6   3.5
  SNP 0   64,044 2.4   1.6
  Communist 0   12,241 0.5   0.0
  Other 0   4,829 0.2   0.1
Total 71 2,634,539 100

Votes summary

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Popular vote
Labour
48.7%
Unionist
40.6%
Liberal
7.6%
SNP
2.4%
Other
0.7%
Parliamentary seats
Labour
60.6%
Unionist
33.8%
Liberal
5.6%
Independent Unionist
1.4%

Notes

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  1. ^ The seat and vote count figures for the Unionists given here include the National Liberals

References

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  1. ^ "Commons results report" (PDF). House of Commons Information Office. May 2010. ISSN 0144-4689. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2020.
  2. ^ Torrance, David (April 2018). "'Standing up for Scotland': The Scottish Unionist Party and 'nationalist unionism', 1912–68". Scottish Affairs. 27 (2): 180. doi:10.3366/scot.2018.0235 – via Edinburgh University Press.
  3. ^ Urwin, D.W. (1 June 1966). "Scottish Conservatism: A Party Organization in Transition". Political Studies. 14 (2): 145–162. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1966.tb00399.x. Retrieved 20 November 2024.