February 1974 United Kingdom general election

E57971
United Kingdom general election parliamentary election

The February 1974 United Kingdom general election was a snap parliamentary contest that resulted in a hung parliament and ultimately brought Harold Wilson’s Labour Party back to power after Edward Heath failed to form a coalition government.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form Occurrences
United Kingdom general election, February 1974 2
UK Parliament 1974 1

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United Kingdom general election ⓘ
parliamentary election ⓘ
attemptedCoalitionNegotiationsWith Liberal Party (UK) ⓘ
surface form: Liberal Party (UK, pre-1988)

Ulster Unionist Party ⓘ
campaignSlogan Who governs Britain? ⓘ
coalitionTalksLedBy Edward Heath ⓘ
coalitionTalksOutcome failure to form coalition government ⓘ
country United Kingdom ⓘ
electedTerm 46th Parliament of the United Kingdom ⓘ
endDate 1974-02-28 ⓘ
era 1970s in British politics ⓘ
governmentAfterElection Labour minority government ⓘ
governmentBeforeElection Conservative government ⓘ
incumbentParty Conservative Party (UK) ⓘ
leadingCandidate1 Edward Heath ⓘ
leadingCandidate2 Harold Wilson ⓘ
leadingCandidate3 Jeremy Thorpe ⓘ
legislativeBodyElected House of Commons of the United Kingdom ⓘ
location United Kingdom ⓘ
mainOppositionParty Labour Party (UK) ⓘ
monarchDuringElection Elizabeth II ⓘ
month February 1974 ⓘ
nextElection October 1974 United Kingdom general election ⓘ
notableFor leading to second general election in October 1974 ⓘ
producing first hung parliament in the UK since 1929 ⓘ
numberOfSeatsContested 635 ⓘ
outcome Labour Party became largest party in the House of Commons ⓘ
no party won an overall majority ⓘ
party1 Conservative Party (UK) ⓘ
party2 Labour Party (UK) ⓘ
party3 Liberal Party (UK) ⓘ
surface form: Liberal Party (UK, pre-1988)
popularVoteShareConservatives 37.9% ⓘ
popularVoteShareLabour 37.2% ⓘ
popularVoteShareLiberals 19.3% ⓘ
previousElection United Kingdom general election, 1970 ⓘ
surface form: 1970 United Kingdom general election
primeMinisterAfterElection Harold Wilson ⓘ
primeMinisterBeforeElection Edward Heath ⓘ
result hung parliament ⓘ
resultingPrimeMinister Harold Wilson ⓘ
resultingPrimeMinisterAppointedBy Elizabeth II ⓘ
seatsWonByConservatives 297 ⓘ
seatsWonByLabour 301 ⓘ
seatsWonByLiberals 14 ⓘ
startDate 1974-02-28 ⓘ
thirdMajorParty Liberal Party (UK) ⓘ
surface form: Liberal Party (UK, pre-1988)
triggeredBy Three-Day Week crisis ⓘ
industrial disputes and miners' strike ⓘ
typeOfGovernmentFormed minority government ⓘ
voterTurnout 78.8% ⓘ
approximately 78.8% ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

United Kingdom general election, 1970 → nextElection → February 1974 United Kingdom general election ⓘ
Edward Heath → officeContested → February 1974 United Kingdom general election ⓘ
John Hunt → parliamentaryTerm → February 1974 United Kingdom general election ⓘ
subject surface form: John Hunt (British politician)
this entity surface form: UK Parliament 1974
Jeremy Thorpe → participantIn → February 1974 United Kingdom general election ⓘ
this entity surface form: United Kingdom general election, February 1974
United Kingdom general election, 1979 → previousElection → February 1974 United Kingdom general election ⓘ
this entity surface form: United Kingdom general election, February 1974