1970 vs February 1974 general election: what changed
How vote shares and seats changed between the 1970 and February 1974 UK general elections, nationally and in every nation and region. Conservative–Labour swing: 1.4 points to Labour.
- Con–Lab swing
- 1.4 ptsto Labour
- 1970
- Con 330largest party
- February 1974
- Lab 301largest party
| Party | Share 1970 | Share February 1974 | Change | Seats 1970 | Seats February 1974 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 43.0% | 37.2% | −5.8 | 287 | 301 | +14 |
| Conservative | 46.4% | 37.8% | −8.6 | 330 | 296 | −34 |
| Liberal | 7.5% | 19.3% | +11.9 | 6 | 14 | +8 |
| Scottish National Party | 1.1% | 2.0% | +0.9 | 1 | 7 | +6 |
| Ulster Unionist Party | — | 0.7% | — | — | 7 | +7 |
| Others | 1.5% | 1.1% | −0.4 | 6 | 3 | −3 |
| Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party | — | 0.2% | — | — | 3 | +3 |
| Plaid Cymru | 0.6% | 0.6% | −0.1 | 0 | 2 | +2 |
| Social Democratic and Labour Party | — | 0.5% | — | — | 1 | +1 |
| Democratic Unionist Party | — | 0.2% | — | — | 1 | +1 |
Nations and regions
| Region | Top party 1970 | Top party February 1974 | Con–Lab swing | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | Con 292 | Con 267 | 1.3 pts to Lab | 511 → 516 |
| Scotland | Lab 44 | Lab 40 | 1.4 pts to Con | 71 → 71 |
| Wales | Lab 27 | Lab 24 | 1.5 pts to Con | 36 → 36 |
| Northern Ireland | Con 8 | UUP 7 | 20.8 pts to Lab | 12 → 12 |
| North East | Lab 26 | Lab 25 | 1.2 pts to Con | 31 → 31 |
| North West | Lab 44 | Lab 51 | 2.5 pts to Lab | 83 → 82 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | Lab 36 | Lab 38 | 0.5 pts to Lab | 55 → 54 |
| East Midlands | Con 21 | Con 20 | 0.1 pts to Lab | 40 → 40 |
| West Midlands | Con 30 | Lab 33 | 3.9 pts to Lab | 54 → 56 |
| East of England | Con 37 | Con 35 | 2.1 pts to Lab | 41 → 45 |
| London | Lab 55 | Lab 50 | 1.9 pts to Lab | 102 → 92 |
| South East | Con 59 | Con 66 | 0.8 pts to Lab | 62 → 72 |
| South West | Con 35 | Con 34 | 0.0 pts to Lab | 43 → 44 |
Constituency boundaries changed between 1970 and February 1974, so seats cannot be compared one by one. The national and regional figures above are comparable.
Official results House of Commons Library and UK Parliament election results data. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0. How we use this data