On Thursday 25 October 1951, the 1951 United Kingdom general election was held in Wales, to elect all 625 members of the House of Commons, with 36 constituencies being in Wales. The election saw the Labour party win the most votes and seats in Wales, retaining its overall 27 seats.
It was the final general election to be held during the reign of King George VI, as he died the following year on 6 February 1951 and was succeeded by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
The Labour Party gained Anglesey and Merioneth from the Liberal Party. As a result, deputy leader of the Liberal Party Megan Lloyd George, the first female Member of Parliament for Wales, left Parliament after losing Anglesey. Lloyd George would, however, later return to Parliament in Caerfyrddin in the 1957 Carmarthen by-election as a Labour candidate.
At the same time the Conservative party gained Conwy and Barry from the Labour Party. Peter Thomas entered Parliament in Conwy. He would go on to become the Chairman of the Conservative Party and the first Conservative Secretary of State for Wales. Under the constituency agreement with the Conservative Party, the National Liberal Party's sole Member of Parliament, Garner Evans, retained Denbigh.
Candidates
Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1951 general election in Wales.
Affiliation CandidatesLabour Party 36Conservative Party 30Liberal Party 9Plaid Cymru 4National Liberal Party 3Communist Party of Great Britain 1 British Empire Party 1Total 84
Results
Below is a table summarising the results of the 1951 general election in Wales.
+PartySeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%) Labour 27 2 2 75.0 925,848 60.5 2.4 Conservative (Total) 6 2 0 2 16.7 471,269 30.8 3.4 5 2 0 2 13.9 421,525 27.6 6.6 1 0 0 2.8 49,744 3.3 3.1 Liberal 3 0 2 2 8.3 116,821 7.6 5.0 Plaid Cymru 0 0 0 — 10,920 0.7 0.5 Communist 0 0 0 — 2,948 0.2 0.4 British Empire 0 colspan=3 — 1,643 0.1 Total 36 0 100.0 1,529,449 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 1,812,664 84.4 0.4
See also 1951 United Kingdom general election in England 1951 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1951 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland List of MPs for constituencies in Wales (1951–1955)
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