On Thursday 8 October 1964, the 1959 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 630 members of the House of Commons, with 511 constituencies being in England.

As in the rest of the United Kingdom, in England, the Conservative Party along with allies, the National Liberal Party, registered a landslide victory over the Labour Party. This was the parties' third consecutive victory overall.

Candidates

Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1959 general election in England.

Affiliation CandidatesLabour Party 511Conservative Party 484Liberal Party 191National Liberal Party 25Communist Party of Great Britain 10Independent 3Independent Liberal 2Union Movement 1Independent Conservative 1Lancastrian Party 1National Labour Party 1Fellowship Party 1Socialist Party of Great Britain 1Alert Party 1Independent Labour Party 1Total 1,234

Analysis

The victory of the Conservative Party and its allies the National Liberal Party in England was even more remarkable than in the nation as it won over 120 more seats than Labour with just over 50% of the voteshare. It was the only election between the 1945 and 1979 general elections in which a party won over 300 seats in England. It was also the best performance of the Conservative Party in England since 1935 and conversely the worst for the Labour Party in England since 1935. Also, these elections marked the last time when the Conservative Party won over 50 per cent vote share in England.

Conservative Party

In terms of seats, the Conservative Party won Acton, Barons Court, Birmingham All Saints, Birmingham Sparkbrook, Birmingham Yardley, Brierley Hill, Bristol North West, Clapham, Cleveland, Coventry South, South East Derbyshire, The Hartlepools, Holborn and St Pancras South, Keighley, Lowestoft, Meriden, Newcastle upon Tyne East, Nottingham West, Reading, Rochester and Chatham, Rugby, Uxbridge, Wellingborough and Willesden East from the Labour Party.

In addition, future Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher in Finchley. Nicholas Ridley also entered Parliament in Cirencester and Tewkesbury, replacing retiring Speaker of the House of Commons William Morrison. Morrison would go onto serve as the Governor-General of Australia in 1960.

National Liberal Party

The National Liberals, however, declined slightly in vote share and seats. It retained its seats of Bedfordshire South, Bradford North, Bradford West, Plymouth Devonport, Harwich, Holland with Boston, Huntingdonshire, Luton, Norfolk Central, St Ives, Sheffield Hallam and Sheffield Heeley. The party gained Bristol North East, with candidate Alan Hopkins entering Parliament.

However, the party lost Newcastle upon Tyne North to its ally the Conservative Party. This was due to the Conservative's gain at the 1957 Newcastle-upon-Tyne North by-election, which was cause by the elevation of sitting MP Gwilym Lloyd George to a peerage. William Elliott retained the seat in this election unopposed by the National Liberals, representing a gain for the Conservatives. Elliot would retain the seat until 1983. Additionally, the National Liberals lost Torrington to the Conservatives. Following the elevation of the sitting MP to a peerage, the Liberal Party candidate Mark Bonham Carter won the seat in the 1958 Torrington by-election. However, Conservative candidate Percy Browne won the seat from the Liberals at this election, but it represented a gain from the National Liberals in comparison to 1955, again with the National Liberals not opposing the Conservatives.

With the two losses to the Conservatives, but with one gain to Labour, along with the Conservatives' wins across England along with its few losses, the alliance between the parties increased its seats by 22.

Labour Party

Conversely, the Labour Party lost several seats in England to the Conservatives and the National Liberals. However, the party gained Oldham East and Rochdale from the Conservatives. Herbert Morrison, who had served in several positions in the Attlee ministry, left Parliament after this election.

Liberal Party

The Conservatives also lost North Devon to the Liberal Party. Jeremy Thorpe, future leader of the Liberal Party, in the seat North Devon.

Results

+PartySeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference   Conservative (Total) 315 27 5 22 61.6 11,559,240 50.0 0.4 302 26 3 23 59.1 11,037,998 47.7 0.1 13 1 2 1 2.5 521,242 2.3 0.3   Labour 193 2 25 23 37.8 10,085,097 43.6 3.2   Liberal 3 1 0 1 0.6 1,449,593 6.3 3.7   Communist 0 0 0 — 12,204 0.1   Independent 0 0 0 — 5,753 0.0   Independent Liberal 0 colspan=3 — 4,473 0.0   Union Movement 0 colspan=3 — 2,821 0.0   Ind. Conservative 0 0 0 — 1,955 0.0   Lancastrian Party 0 colspan=3 — 1,889 0.0   National Labour 0 colspan=3 — 1,685 0.0   Fellowship 0 colspan=3 — 1,189 0.0   Socialist (GB) 0 colspan=3 — 899 0.0   Alert Party 0 colspan=3 — 788 0.0   Ind. Labour Party 0 0 0 — 183 0.0 Total 511 0 100.0 23,127,769 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 29,303,126 78.9 2.0

By region

Note: the following tables indicate the results according to the regions of England which were established in 1994, based on the county boundaries established in the 1974 local government reforms. These regions were not used at the time for the purposes of this election.

East Midlands

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 20 0 3 3 52.6 48.9 0.1 18 3 0 3 47.4 46.9 2.9 0 0 0 0.0 4.2 2.8   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 Total 38

East of England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 36 1 0 1 87.8 51.2 1.6 5 0 1 1 12.2 40.2 4.8 0 0 0 0.0 8.4 6.2   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.2 0.2 Total 41

Greater London

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 60 6 0 6 58.8 49.4 0.1 42 0 6 6 41.2 43.3 4.5 0 0 0 0.0 6.9 4.3   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.4 0.1 Total 102

North East England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 21 0 3 3 67.7 56.7 1.0 10 3 0 3 32.3 41.9 0 0 0 0.0 1.5 1.1   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Total 31

North West England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 44 0 2 2 53.0 50.3 1.7 38 2 0 2 45.8 44.9 0.9 1 0 0 1.2 4.6 2.5   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 Total 83

South East England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 57 2 0 2 93.4 58.8 1.2 4 0 2 2 6.6 33.6 4.2 0 0 0 0.0 7.6 5.6   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.2 Total 61

South West England

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 37 2 1 1 82.2 50.9 2.2 7 0 2 2 15.6 34.2 3.9 1 1 0 1 2.2 14.7 6.5   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 0.5 Total 45

West Midlands

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 29 7 0 7 53.7 50.7 1.5 25 0 7 7 46.3 45.9 3.5 0 0 0 0.0 3.2 2.0   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.2 Total 54

Yorkshire and the Humber

+ Party Seats Aggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 31 0 1 1 55.4 50.2 2.1 24 1 0 1 42.9 44.8 0.5 1 0 0 1.8 4.9 1.6   Others 0 0 0 0.0 0.1 Total 56

See also 1959 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland 1959 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1959 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Notes

References

Further reading "1959: Macmillan wins Tory hat trick", BBC News. Sanders, David. "Pre-election polling in Britain, 1950–1997." Electoral Studies 22.1 (2003): 1-20. Ridge-Newman, Anthony, and Anthony Ridge-Newman. "1959 General Election, Tories and TV 1958–63." The Tories and Television, 1951-1964: Broadcasting an Elite (2017): 111–129.