The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. The election was also a setback for the Liberal Party under its new leader Jeremy Thorpe, which lost half its seats. The Conservatives, when combined with the Ulster Unionists, held a majority of 31 over all other parties.
Most Opinion polls prior to the election had predicted a comfortable Labour victory, and had put Labour 12.4% ahead of the Conservatives. However on the day, a late swing put the Conservatives 3.4% ahead.
Party | Votes | Seats | Loss/Gain | Share of Vote (%) |
Conservative | 13,145,521 | 330 | + 66 | 46.4 |
Labour | 12,080,977 | 287 | - 76 | 43.0 |
Liberal | 2,117,638 | 6 | - 6 | 7.5 |
Others | 1,001,507 | 7 | + 5 | 3.1 |
The 7 "others" include the Speaker. The Conservative figure includes 8 Ulster Unionists.