electionstracker

United Kingdom 1979 general election

What was the result of the 1979 general election in the United Kingdom?

Conservative Party won 339 of 635 seats with 43.9% of the vote. 76.0% 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 : Conservative Party won 339 of 635 seats with 43.9% of the vote; 76.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 3.1 points on 1974.

  • Conservative Party 339 +62 seats 43.9% +8.1 points
  • Labour Party 269 −50 seats 36.9% −2.3 points
  • Liberal Party 11 −2 seats 13.8% −4.5 points
  • Scottish National Party 2 −9 seats 1.6% −1.3 points
  • Ulster Unionist Party 5 −1 seat 0.8%
  • National Front 0 0 seats 0.6% +0.2 points
  • Plaid Cymru 2 −1 seat 0.4% −0.2 points
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 1 0 seats 0.4% −0.1 points
  • Democratic Unionist Party 3 +2 seats 0.2%
  • 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 October 1974 general election, party by party.

318 of 635 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 43.9%

    Share of the vote won by Conservative Party

    Conservative Party won 339 of 635 seats. A majority needs 318.

  2. +62 seats

    Seats gained by Conservative Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1974. Labour Party lost 50 seats.

  3. 76.0%

    Voter turnout

    Up 3.1 points on 1974.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Conservative Party339+6243.9+8.113,697,923
Labour Party269−5036.9−2.311,532,218
Liberal Party11−213.8−4.54,313,804
Scottish National Party2−91.6−1.3504,259
Ulster Unionist Party5−10.8254,578
National Front000.6+0.2191,719
Plaid Cymru2−10.4−0.2132,544
Social Democratic and Labour Party100.4−0.182,892
Democratic Unionist Party3+20.270,795
Unnamed party with one seat10.139,856
Other parties (seats only)2

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

Votes by party
  • Conservative Party 13,697,923
  • Labour Party 11,532,218
  • Liberal Party 4,313,804
  • Scottish National Party 504,259
  • Ulster Unionist Party 254,578
  • National Front 191,719
  • Plaid Cymru 132,544
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 82,892
  • Democratic Unionist Party 70,795
  • Unnamed party with one seat 39,856
  • Other parties (seats only)

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?

76.0% of the 41,095,490 registered voters cast a ballot (31,233,208 ballots), up 3.1 points on 1974. 31,221,362 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Conservative Party43.9% of votes53.4% of seats
  • Labour Party36.9% of votes42.4% of seats
  • Liberal Party13.8% of votes1.7% of seats
  • Ulster Unionist Party0.8% of votes0.8% of seats
  • Democratic Unionist Party0.2% of votes0.5% of seats
  • Scottish National Party1.6% of votes0.3% of seats
  • Plaid Cymru0.4% of votes0.3% of seats
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party0.4% of votes0.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 11.6 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.9 by votes and 2.2 by seats; Conservative Party led Labour Party by 7.0 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of