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

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A general election was held in the United Kingdom 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.