The map above shows the results of the 1950 UK General Election. The number of seats won out of 625 by the major parties (and % vote share) were as follows:
Labour: 315. Leader and Prime Minister: Clement Atlee.
Conservatives: 298. Leader: Winston Churchill.
Liberal: 9. Leader: Clement Davies.
Notable things about the 1950 election include:
- This was the first election night to be broadcast on television, with Richard Dimbleby (father of David Dimbleby) anchoring coverage on the BBC. Sadly, no one thought to tape it.
- This was the first election after they got rid of a mad system that gave extra votes to people associated with different universities. Until this election, a number of universities had their own constituencies and MPs – and that people could vote in both their university constituency and at home.
- In a replay of 1945, Churchill again lost to Atlee – though this wouldn’t be the last that we saw of him.
- A record number of Liberal candidates – 319 – lost their deposits, so concentrated were votes in the two main parties.
Other UK Elections.
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