United Kingdom general election, 1924

Infobox Election
election_name = United Kingdom general election, 1924
country = United Kingdom
type = parliamentary
ongoing = no
previous_election = United Kingdom general election, 1923
previous_year = 1923
previous_mps = MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1923
next_election = United Kingdom general election, 1929
next_year = 1929
next_mps = MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1929
seats_for_election = All 616 seats to the House of Commons
election_date = 29 October 1924


leader1 = Stanley Baldwin
leader_since1 = 23 May 1923
party1 = Conservative Party (UK)
leaders_seat1 = Bewdley
last_election1 = 258 seats, 38.0%
seats1 = 412
seat_change1 = +154
popular_vote1 = 7,418,983
percentage1 = 46.8%
swing1 = %


leader2 = Ramsay MacDonald
leader_since2 = 21 November 1922
party2 = Labour Party (UK)
leaders_seat2 = Aberavon
last_election2 = 191 seats, 30.7%
seats2 = 151
seat_change2 = -40
popular_vote2 = 5,281,626
percentage2 = 33.3%
swing2 = %


leader3 = H. H. Asquith
leader_since3 = 30 April 1908
party3 = Liberal Party (UK)
leaders_seat3 = Paisley (defeated)
last_election3 = 158 seats, 29.7%
seats3 = 40
seat_change3 = -118
popular_vote3 = 2,818,717
percentage3 = 17.8%
swing3 = %
title = PM
before_election = Ramsay MacDonald
before_party = Labour Party (UK)
after_election = Stanley Baldwin
after_party = Conservative Party (UK)

The 1924 UK general election was held on 29 October 1924. The Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin performed dramatically better, in electoral terms, than in the 1923 general election and obtained a large parliamentary majority. Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, lost 40 seats. The election also saw the Liberal Party, led by Herbert Henry Asquith, lose 118 of their 158 seats which helped to polarise British politics between the Labour Party and Conservative Party.

The Conservative landslide victory and the Labour defeat in this general election has been, in part, attributed to the Zinoviev letter, a forgery, which was published in the Daily Mail four days before the election. However, it is difficult to demonstrate that this had a major impact on the election result. In fact, the Labour vote actually increased by around one million popular votes in comparison to the 1923 general election, which suggests that the letter may not have lost Labour any significant electoral support. However, the increase in the number of popular votes for the Labour Party may be due, in part, to the party putting up eighty-seven more candidates than they did in the previous year's general election.

It is widely speculated that because Labour managed to form its first government in January 1924 and the Zinoviev letter helped to stir up anti-socialist fears in Britain many traditional anti-socialist Liberal voters switched their support to the Conservative Party. This partly helps to explain the poor performance of the Liberal Party in the general election. However, the party also suffered from finance difficulties which allowed the party to only contest 339 seats, a lack of distinctive policies after the Conservative Party dropped their support for protected trade, and poor leadership under Herbert Henry Asquith.

Results

Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidates = 534
seats = 412
gain =
loss =
net = + 154
votes = 7,418,983
votes % = 46.8
seats % = 66.991
plus/minus = +8.8
government = yesElection Summary Party with Candidates
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidates = 514
seats = 151
gain =
loss =
net = - 40
votes = 5,281,626
votes % = 33.3
seats % = 24.552
plus/minus = +2.6Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Liberal Party (UK)
candidates = 339
seats = 40
gain =
loss =
net = - 118
votes = 2,818,717
votes % = 17.8
seats % = 6.504
plus/minus = -11.9Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Constitutionalist
candidates = 12
seats = 7
gain = 7
loss = 0
net = + 7
votes = 185,075
votes % = 1.2
seats % = 1.138
plus/minus = +1.1Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Communist Party of Great Britain
candidates = 8
seats = 1
gain = 1
loss = 0
net = + 1
votes = 51,176
votes % = 0.2
seats % = 0.162
plus/minus = +0.1Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Sinn Féin
candidates = 8
seats = 0
gain = 0
loss = 0
net = 0
votes = 34,181
votes % = 0.2
seats % =
plus/minus = "N/A"Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Independent (politician)
candidates = 7
seats = 2
gain = 0
loss = 0
net = 0
votes = 25,206
votes % = 0.2
seats % =
plus/minus = -0.1Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Northern Ireland Labour Party
candidates = 1
seats = 0
gain = 0
loss = 0
net = 0
votes = 21,122
votes % = 0.1
seats % =
plus/minus = "N/A"Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Scottish Prohibition Party
candidates = 1
seats = 1
gain = 0
loss = 0
net = 0
votes = 14,596
votes % = 0.1
seats % =
plus/minus = 0.0Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Independent Liberal
candidates = 1
seats = 0
gain = 0
loss = 0
net = 0
votes = 3,241
votes % = 0.0
seats % =
plus/minus = -0.1Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Independent Labour
candidates = 1
seats = 0
gain = 0
loss = 0
net = 0
votes = 1,775
votes % = 0.0
seats % =
plus/minus = -0.1Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Independent Conservative
candidates = 1
seats = 0
gain = 0
loss = 0
net = 0
votes = 517
votes % = 0.0
seats % =
plus/minus = -0.1Election Summary Party with Candidates
party = Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
candidates = 1
seats = 1
gain = 0
loss = 2
net = - 2
votes = 0
votes % = 0.0
seats % =
plus/minus = -0.4

"Total votes cast: 15,856,215. All parties shown. The only Irish Nationalist candidate was elected unopposed. The Conservatives include the Ulster Unionists."

Votes summary

bar box
title=Popular vote
titlebar=#ddd
width=600px
barwidth=500px
bars=

eats summary

bar box
title=Parliamentary seats
titlebar=#ddd
width=600px
barwidth=500px
bars=

References

*F. W. S. Craig, "British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987"
* [http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html United Kingdom election results - summary results 1885-1979]

ee also

*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1924

External links

* [http://www.conservativemanifesto.com/1924/1924-conservative-manifesto.shtml 1924 Conservative manifesto]
* [http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1924/1924-labour-manifesto.shtml 1924 Labour manifesto]
* [http://www.libdemmanifesto.com/1924/1924-liberal-manifesto.shtml 1924 Liberal manifesto]