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 →
← outgoing members elected members →
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 5 7 3 Popular vote 1,283,667 1,069,695 200,063 Percentage 48.7 40.6 7.6% Swing 2.0 6.7% 3.5%
Results of the 1964 election in Scotland   Conservative/Unionist   Labour   Liberal

Main article: 1964 United Kingdom general election

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]

MPs

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

Results

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

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

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

References

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.