United Kingdom general election, 1931

United Kingdom general election, 1931

27 October 1931

All 615 seats to the House of Commons 308 seats needed for a majority Turnout 76.4%   First party Second party Third party   Leader Stanley Baldwin Arthur Henderson John Simon Party Conservative Labour Liberal National Leader since 23 May 1923 1 September 1931 5 October 1931 Leader's seat Bewdley Burnley (defeated) Spen Valley Last election 260 seats, 38.1% 287 seats, 37.1% N/A Seats won 470 46 35 Seat change 210 231 N/A Popular vote 11,377,022 6,081,826 761,705 Percentage 55.0% 29.4% 3.7% Swing 16.9% 7.7% 3.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Herbert Samuel Ramsay MacDonald David Lloyd George Party Liberal National Labour Independent Liberal Leader since October 1931 24 August 1931 1931 Leader's seat Darwen Seaham Caernarvon Boroughs Last election 59 seats, 23.6% N/A N/A Seats won 33 13 4 Seat change 26 N/A N/A Popular vote 1,346,571 316,741 Percentage 6.5% 1.5% Swing 17.1% 1.5%

PM before election Ramsay MacDonald Labour Subsequent PM Ramsay MacDonald National

The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was an overwhelming landslide for the Conservative Party which won 470 seats. The Labour party suffered its greatest defeat, losing 80% of its seats. The Liberals continued to shrink, and now they split in three parts that never reunited. The National Liberal faction was part of the governing coalition. Bulmer-Thomas says the results "were the most astonishing in the history of the British party system".^[1]

It was the last election where one party (the Conservatives) received an absolute majority of the votes cast and the last UK general election not to take place on a Thursday.

The 1931 general election was the first to be held since the onset of the Great Depression, and by 1931 Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government had reached a deadlock over a response to the crisis. Influential members of the Labour Cabinet, such as Arthur Henderson, were not willing to support the budget cuts advised by the civil service, while the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Snowden refused to consider deficit spending or tariffs. MacDonald was then encouraged to form an all-party National Government to deal with the financial crisis.

MacDonald's decision before the election to form a coalition with the National Labour. The Labour split persuaded MacDonald that a quick election was necessary.

The Herbert Samuel decided to remain within it. Complicating matters further a group of Liberal MPs emerged as the "Liberal Nationals" who urged full support for the National Government and expressed a willingness to fill any vacancies created by the resignations of other Liberals and maintain the multi-party nature of the government.

A main issue was the Conservatives' wish to introduce free trade.

In the event, the Labour vote fell sharply, and the National Government won a landslide majority. Although the overwhelming majority of the Government MPs were Conservatives under the leadership of Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald remained Prime Minister in the new National government. The Liberals lacked the funds to contest the full range of seats, but still won almost as many constituencies as the Labour Party.

Results

Turnout: 76.4%.^[2]

Note: Seat changes are compared with the dissolution and are based on "The Times House of Commons 1931" p. 134-6 with revisions from F. W. S. Craig.

Incumbents defeated

Results by constituency

These are available at the PoliticsResources website, a link to which is given below.

See also

• MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1931

References

Further reading

• Ball, Stuart. Baldwin and the Conservative Party: The Crisis of 1929-31 (Yale University Press, 1988)
• Bulmer-Thomas, Ivor. The Growth of the British Party System Volume II 1924-1964 (1967) pp. 68-82
• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• Thorpe, Andrew. The British General Election of 1931 (Oxford, 1991)

External links

• United Kingdom election results - summary results 1885-1979

External links

• 1931 election results by constituency
• 1931 Conservative manifesto
• 1931 Labour manifesto
• 1931 Liberal manifesto