electionstracker

United Kingdom October 1974 general election

What was the result of the October 1974 general election in the United Kingdom?

Labour Party won 319 of 635 seats with 39.2% of the vote. 72.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • United Kingdom
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Labour Party won 319 of 635 seats with 39.2% of the vote; 72.9% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 6.0 points on 1974.

  • Labour Party 319 +18 seats 39.2% +2.0 points
  • Conservative Party 277 −20 seats 35.8% −2.2 points
  • Liberal Party 13 −1 seat 18.3% −1.0 points
  • Scottish National Party 11 +4 seats 2.9% +0.9 points
  • United Ulster Unionist Council 0 0 seats 1.4% +0.2 points
  • Plaid Cymru 3 +1 seat 0.6% 0.0 points
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 1 0 seats 0.5% 0.0 points
  • National Front 0 0 seats 0.4% +0.2 points
  • Ulster Unionist Party 6 −1 seat
  • Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party 3 0 seats
  • Democratic Unionist Party 1 0 seats
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the United Kingdom February 1974 general election, party by party.

318 of 635 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 39.2%

    Share of the vote won by Labour Party

    Labour Party won 319 of 635 seats. A majority needs 318.

  2. +18 seats

    Seats gained by Labour Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1974. Conservative Party lost 20 seats.

  3. 72.9%

    Voter turnout

    Down 6.0 points on 1974.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Labour Party319+1839.2+2.011,457,079
Conservative Party277−2035.8−2.210,462,565
Liberal Party13−118.3−1.05,346,704
Scottish National Party11+42.9+0.9839,617
United Ulster Unionist Council001.4+0.2407,778
Plaid Cymru3+10.60.0166,321
Social Democratic and Labour Party100.50.0154,193
National Front000.4+0.2113,843
Ulster Unionist Party6−1
Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party30
Democratic Unionist Party10
Independents1

± is the change against the United Kingdom February 1974 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Labour Party 11,457,079
  • Conservative Party 10,462,565
  • Liberal Party 5,346,704
  • Scottish National Party 839,617
  • United Ulster Unionist Council 407,778
  • Plaid Cymru 166,321
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 154,193
  • National Front 113,843
  • Ulster Unionist Party
  • Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party
  • Democratic Unionist Party
  • Independents

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

72.9% of the 40,072,970 registered voters cast a ballot (29,226,810 ballots), down 6.0 points on 1974. 29,189,104 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Labour Party39.2% of votes50.2% of seats
  • Conservative Party35.8% of votes43.6% of seats
  • Liberal Party18.3% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Scottish National Party2.9% of votes1.7% of seats
  • Plaid Cymru0.6% of votes0.5% of seats
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party0.5% of votes0.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 15.0 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.2 by votes and 2.3 by seats; Labour Party led Conservative Party by 3.4 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of