1959 United Kingdom general election

The 1959 United Kingdom general election happened on 8 October 1959. The Conservative Party led by Harold Macmillan won. They had also won the two last general elections before this. The Conservatives won more seats than they did in the last general election. This meant they got a bigger majority. The Labour Party lost 19 seats.

1959 United Kingdom general election

8 October 1959
All 630 seats in the House of Commons 316 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	78.7%, 1.9%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Harold Macmillan Hugh Gaitskell Jo Grimond Party Conservative Labour Liberal Leader since 10 January 1957 14 December 1955 5 November 1956 Leader's seat Bromley Leeds South Orkney and Shetland Last election 345 seats, 49.7% 277 seats, 46.4% 6 seats, 2.7% Seats won 365 258 6 Seat change 20 19 Popular vote 13,750,875 12,216,172 1,640,760 Percentage 49.4% 43.8% 5.9% Swing 0.3% 2.6% 3.2%
Colours showing the winning party
Seats in the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Harold Macmillan Conservative Prime Minister after election Harold Macmillan Conservative

The Conservatives got the most amount of votes in Scotland. However, they didn't win the most seats in that country. Both Jeremy Thorpe and Margaret Thatcher, first became a MP in the election.

1959 United Kingdom General Election Media

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  Photo of Hugh Gaitskell, Leader of the Opposition.

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    Labour Party (UK): 258 seats