1955 United Kingdom general election

1955 United Kingdom general election

26 May 1955

All 630 seats in the House of Commons
316 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout26,759,729
76.8% (5.8 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Anthony Eden Clement Attlee Clement Davies
Party Conservative Labour Liberal
Leader since 7 April 1955 25 October 1935 2 August 1945
Leader's seat Warwick and
Leamington
Walthamstow West Montgomeryshire
Last election 321 seats, 48.0% 295 seats, 48.8% 6 seats, 2.5%
Seats won 345 277 6
Seat change 23 18
Popular vote 13,310,891 12,405,254 722,402
Percentage 49.7% 46.4% 2.7%
Swing 1.7 pp 2.4 pp 0.2 pp

Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results

Composition of the House of Commons after the election

Prime Minister before election

Anthony Eden
Conservative

Prime Minister after election

Anthony Eden
Conservative

The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 26 May 1955. It was a snap election: Anthony Eden called the election after succeeding Churchill in April 1955 to secure a mandate. The government won a 60-seat majority, achieving the highest post-war party vote share. It was the first election under Queen Elizabeth II.