1929 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 30 May 1929, after the previous Parliament was dissolved on 10 May. It resulted in a hung parliament: the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, won the most votes, but Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party won the most seats in the House of Commons. This marked the first election where Labour emerged as the largest party, though they failed to win a majority. The Liberal Party, led again by former Prime Minister David Lloyd George, regained some of the ground lost in 1924 and held the balance of power.

The election was often referred to as the "Flapper Election", because it was the first in which women aged 21–29 had the right to vote (owing to the Representation of the People Act 1928). Women over 30, with some property qualifications, had been able to vote since the 1918 general election, but the 1929 vote was the first general election with universal suffrage for adults over 21, which was then the age of majority.

The election was fought against a background of rising unemployment, with the memory of the 1926 general strike still fresh in voters' minds. By 1929, the Cabinet was being described by many as "old and exhausted".

The Liberals campaigned on a comprehensive programme of public works under the title "We Can Conquer Unemployment". There was anticipation of a potential revival of the Liberal Party after the reunification of Independent Liberals and National Liberals now under Lloyd George's leadership since 1926 and following some victories in a series of recent by-elections after 1926. The incumbent Conservatives campaigned on the theme of "Safety First", with Labour campaigning on the theme of "Labour & the Nation".

This was the first general election to be contested by the newly formed Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru.

It stood as the last time when a third party polled more than one-fifth of the popular vote until 1983. The Liberals performed more successfully than at the previous general election in 1924, but could not regain their pre-World War I status as a party of government.

Results

Summary of seats returned

+ Party Leader MPs Aggregate votes Of total Of total Labour Party Ramsay MacDonald 287 8,370,417 37.1% Conservative and Unionist Party Stanley Baldwin 260 8,656,225 38.1% Conservative Party Stanley Baldwin 227 7,493,791 33.4% Unionist Party John Craik-Henderson 22 807,777 3.6% Ulster Unionist Party James Craig 11 354,657 1.1% Liberal Party David Lloyd George 59 5,308,738 23.5% Independent 4 89,952 0.4% Scottish Prohibition Party Edwin Scrymgeour 1 50,073 0.1% Nationalist Party Joseph Devlin 2 24,177 0.1% Independent Labour Joseph Devlin 1 19,770 0.1% Irish Nationalist T. P. O'Connor 1 0 0.0%

Full Results

+Results of the October 1924 general election to the House of Commons of the United KingdomPartyLeaderCandidatesMPsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%) Conservative Stanley Baldwin 590 260 2 154 152 42.3 8,656,225 38.1 8.7 Labour Ramsay MacDonald 569 287 142 6 136 46.7 8,370,417 37.1 3.8 Liberal David Lloyd George 513 59 34 15 19 9.6 5,308,738 23.5 5.7 Independent 11 4 3 1 2 0.8 89,952 0.4 0.2 Communist Harry Pollitt 25 0 0 1 1 — 50,634 0.2 0.1 Ind. Unionist 8 0 0 0 — 46,278 0.2 0.2 Scottish Prohibition Edwin Scrymgeour 1 1 0 0 0.2 50,073 0.1 Nationalist Joseph Devlin 3 2 colspan=2 2 0.3 24,177 0.1 Independent Liberal 2 0 0 0 — 21,287 0.1 0.1 Independent Labour 3 1 colspan=2 1 0.2 19,770 0.1 SPL Alexander Ratcliffe 1 0 colspan=3 — 6,902 0.0 National (Scotland) Roland Muirhead 2 0 colspan=3 — 3,313 0.0 Plaid Cymru Saunders Lewis 1 0 colspan=3 — 3,313 0.0 Irish Nationalist T. P. O'Connor 1 1 0 0 0.2 0 0.0 0.1 Total 1,730 615 0 100.0 22,648,375 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout28.854,746 76.3 0.7

Votes summary

Seats summary

Constituency results

Transfers of seats All comparisons are with the 1924 election. In some cases, the change is due to the MP's having defected to the gaining party, and then retaining the seat in 1929. Such circumstances are marked with a *. In other circumstances, the change is due to the seat's having been won by the gaining party in a by-election in the intervening years, and then retained in 1929. Such circumstances are marked with a †. ToFromNo.Seats 1Govan* 1Battersea North 15Chesterfield, South Shields, Walthamstow West, Bristol North, Bristol South, Kingston upon Hull Central*, Blackburn (one of two), Oldham (one of two), Hackney South, Lambeth North, Bradford East, Batley and Morley, Wrexham, Carmarthen, Swansea West 3Walthamstow East1, Accrington2, Stoke2 121Stirlingshire West, Dunbartonshire, Lanark, Partick, Lanarkshire North†, Renfrewshire West, Maryhill, Kilmarnock, Edinburgh West, Linlithgow†, Berwick & Haddington, Reading, Birkenhead West, Crewe, Stalybridge and Hyde, Stockport (one of two)†, Carlisle, Whitehaven, Derby (one of two), Belper, Derbyshire South, Drake, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield, Darlington†, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland (both seats), Leyton East, East Ham North, Essex SE, Leyton West, Romford, Upton, Bristol Central, Portsmouth Central, Southampton (both seats), Dudley, Stourbridge†, Kingston upon Hull East, Kingston upon Hull South West, Chatham, Dartford, Blackburn (one of two), Ormskirk, Rossendale, Ashton-under-Lyne†, Bolton (both seats), Eccles, Hulme, Oldham (one of two), Salford North, Salford South, Salford West, Bootle, Everton, Kirkdale, Warrington, Widnes, Leicester East, Loughborough, Brigg, Fulham West, Hammersmith South, Islington North, Kensington North, Battersea South†, Greenwich, Islington East, Camberwell North-West, Hackney Central, Kennington, Hammersmith North†, St Pancras North, St Pancras South East, St Pancras South West, Wandsworth Central, Norfolk South West, Norwich (one of two), Kettering, Northampton†, Peterborough, Bassetlaw, Nottingham South, The Wrekin, Frome, Lichfield, Walsall, Wolverhampton West, Nuneaton, Duddeston, Coventry, Aston, Deritend, Erdington, Ladywood, Yardley, Swindon, York, Cleveland, Acton, Enfield, Tottenham South, Sheffield Central, Bradford North, Leeds Central, Sowerby, Wakefield, Sheffield Park, Bradford Central, Pontefract, Newport (Monmouthshire), Brecon and Radnor, Llandaff & Barry, Cardiff Central, Cardiff East, Cardiff South 1Halifax† 1MossleyLabour gains:142 2Bethnal Green North-East, Newcastle upon Tyne East 2Camborne, Heywood and Radcliffe* 32Banff, Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine, Fife East, Dumfriesshire, Galloway, Bedfordshire Mid, Luton, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Ely, Birkenhead East, Eddisbury, Bodmin, Cornwall North, Penryn and Falmouth, St Ives†, South Molton, Dorset East, Harwich, Hereford, Ashford, Darwen, Preston (one of two), Blackley, Withington, Bosworth†, Holland with Boston†, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk East, Nottingham East, Eye, Flintshire, PembrokeshireLiberal gains:36 1King's Norton 1Epping*Conservative gains:2 1Stretford* 2Combined English Universities (one of two), Exeter* 2Fermanagh and Tyrone (both seats)

1 Previous MP had defected to the Conservatives by the 1929 election 2 Previous MP had defected to the Liberals by the 1929 election

See also List of MPs elected in the 1929 United Kingdom general election 1929 United Kingdom general election in England 1929 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1929 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1929 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland Constituency election results in the 1929 United Kingdom general election

References

Note list

Sources

1929 United Kingdom general election

Bron en licentie