1955 United Kingdom general election

1955 United Kingdom general election

← 1951 26 May 1955 1959 →

All 630 seats in the House of Commons
316 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout76.8% (Decrease5.8 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Anthony Eden Clement Attlee Clement Davies
Party Conservative Labour Liberal
Leader since 7 April 1955 25 October 1935 2 August 1945
Leader's seat Warwick and
Leamington
Walthamstow West Montgomeryshire
Last election 321 seats, 48.0% 295 seats, 48.8% 6 seats, 2.5%
Seats won 345[note 1] 277 6
Seat change Increase23 Decrease18 Steady
Popular vote 13,310,891 12,405,254 722,402
Percentage 49.7% 46.4% 2.7%
Swing Increase1.7% Decrease2.4% Increase0.2%

Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results

Composition of the House of Commons after the election

Prime Minister before election

Anthony Eden
Conservative

Prime Minister after election

Anthony Eden
Conservative

The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election in 1951. It was a snap election: after Winston Churchill retired in April 1955, Anthony Eden took over and immediately called the election in order to gain a mandate for his government. It resulted in a majority of 60 seats for the government; the result remains the largest party share of the vote at a post-war general election. This was the first general election to be held during the reign of Elizabeth II. She had succeeded her father George VI the year after the previous election.


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