1951 United Kingdom general election

The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats.

Labour called another general election in 1951.

Clement Attlee had decided to call the election because of the King's concerns that, when leaving the country to go on his Commonwealth tour in 1952 with a government that had such a slim majority, there would be a possibility of a change of government in his absence.

His party was narrowly defeated by the Conservatives in the 1951 general election, despite winning the most votes.

Additionally, most of Labour's overall popular vote margin can be accounted for as being the votes not polled by the Conservatives's Ulster Unionist allies in the four constituencies (all safe UUP seats) in which they were unopposed—the UUP would poll 166,400 votes in these four constituencies four years later.

The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election.

The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats.

In the 1951 general election, Labour narrowly lost to Churchill's Conservatives, despite receiving the larger share of the popular vote – its highest ever vote numerically.

The subsequent Labour defeat was significant for several reasons: the party polled almost a quarter of a million votes more than the Conservatives and their National Liberal allies combined; won the most votes that Labour has ever won (as of 2017); and won the most votes of any political party in any election in British political history, a record not surpassed until the Conservative Party's victory in 1992.

The Conservative Party received what remains the largest number of votes in a general election in British history, breaking the previous record set by Labour in 1951.

The subsequent Labour defeat was significant for several reasons: the party polled almost a quarter of a million votes more than the Conservatives and their National Liberal allies combined; won the most votes that Labour has ever won (as of 2017); and won the most votes of any political party in any election in British political history, a record not surpassed until the Conservative Party's victory in 1992.

It used the dissatisfaction with the socialist and egalitarian policies of the Labour Party to rally middle-class supporters and build a political comeback that won them the 1951 general election.

The others were January 1910, December 1910, 1929 and February 1974; it also happened in the 1874 election.

It was the fifth of seven general elections under the secret ballot and the first of three under universal suffrage in which a party lost the popular vote (i.e. gained fewer popular votes than another party) but gained a plurality of seats—the others of the seven being 1852, 1874, January 1910, December 1910, 1951 and February 1974.

He lost it to Denys Bullard in 1951 by 442 votes and won it back in 1955 with a majority of 193.

Additionally, most of Labour's overall popular vote margin can be accounted for as being the votes not polled by the Conservatives's Ulster Unionist allies in the four constituencies (all safe UUP seats) in which they were unopposed—the UUP would poll 166,400 votes in these four constituencies four years later.

The seat was won by the Nationalist Party in 1950 and 1951, the closely contested 1951 election seeing a 93.4% turnout – a UK record for any election.

The subsequent Labour defeat was significant for several reasons: the party polled almost a quarter of a million votes more than the Conservatives and their National Liberal allies combined; won the most votes that Labour has ever won (as of 2017); and won the most votes of any political party in any election in British political history, a record not surpassed until the Conservative Party's victory in 1992.

The seat was initially won by the Irish Nationalist Party in 1950 and 1951 then by Sinn Féin in 1955.