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Uk General Election, 1974 (February) | 1970 election | | b>February 1974 election | | a href="/encyclopedia/UK-general-election,-1974-(October)" title="UK general election, 1974 (October)">October 1974 election | The UK general election of February 1974 was held on February 28, 1974. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the only election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party, instead producing a hung parliament. The incumbent Conservative government of Edward Heath polled the most votes by a tiny margin, but the Tories were overtaken in terms of Commons seats by Harold Wilson's Labour Party due to the decision by Ulster Unionist MPs not to take the Conservative whip. After failed negotiations between Heath and Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe, Heath resigned and Wilson returned for his second spell as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He would call another election in October of the same year. This election saw Northern Ireland diverging heavily from the rest of the UK, with all twelve MPs elected being from local parties, following the decision of the Ulster Unionists to withdraw support from the Conservative Party in protest over the Sunningdale Agreement. | lign="center"|Party | align="center"|Votes | align="center"|Seats | align="center"|Loss/Gain | align="center"|Share of Vote (%) | | a href="/encyclopedia/Conservative-Party-(UK)" title="Conservative Party (UK)">Conservative | align="right"|11,872,180 | align="center"|297 | align="center"|- 33 | align="center"|37.9 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Labour-Party-(UK)" title="Labour Party (UK)">Labour | align="right"|11,645,616 | align="center"|301 | align="center"|+ 13 | align="center"|37.2 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Liberal-Party-(UK)" title="Liberal Party (UK)">Liberal | align="right"|6,059,519 | align="center"|14 | align="center"|+ 8 | align="center"|19.3 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Scottish-National-Party" title="Scottish National Party">SNP | align="right"|633,180 | align="center"|7 | align="center"|+ 6 | align="center"|2.0 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Ulster-Unionist-Party" title="Ulster Unionist Party">Ulster Unionist | align="right"|232,103 | align="center"|7 | align="center"|- 1 | align="center"|0.8 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Plaid-Cymru" title="Plaid Cymru">Plaid Cymru | align="right"|171,374 | align="center"|2 | align="center"|+ 2 | align="center"|0.5 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Social-Democratic-and-Labour-Party" title="Social Democratic and Labour Party">SDLP | align="right"|160,137 | align="center"|1 | align="center"|+ 1 | align="center"|0.5 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Pro-Assembly-Unionist" title="Pro-Assembly Unionist">Pro-Assembly Unionist | align="right"|94,301 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.3 | | a href="/encyclopedia/National-Front-(UK)" title="National Front (UK)">National Front | align="right"|76,865 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.2 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Vanguard-Progressive-Unionist-Party" title="Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party">VUPP | align="right"|75,944 | align="center"|3 | align="center"|+ 3 | align="center"|0.2 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Democratic-Unionist-Party" title="Democratic Unionist Party">Democratic Unionist | align="right"|58,656 | align="center"|1 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.2 | | ndependent Liberal | align="right"|38,437 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.2 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Communist-Party-of-Great-Britain" title="Communist Party of Great Britain">Communist | align="right"|32,743 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.1 | | ndependent Labour | align="right"|29,892 | align="center"|1 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.2 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Alliance-Party-of-Northern-Ireland" title="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland">Alliance (NI) | align="right"|22,660 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.1 | | ndependent | align="right"|18,180 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.1 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Unity-Party" title="Unity Party">Unity | align="right"|17,593 | align="center"|0 | align="center"|- 2 | align="center"|0.0 | | ndependent Socialist | align="right"|17,300 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.1 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Northern-Ireland-Labour-Party" title="Northern Ireland Labour Party">Labour (NI) | align="right"|17,284 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Republican-Clubs" title="Republican Clubs">Republican Clubs | align="right"|15,152 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Lincoln-Democratic-Labour-Association" title="Lincoln Democratic Labour Association">Democratic Labour | align="right"|14,780 | align="center"|1 | align="center"|+ 1 | align="center"|0.0 | | ndependent Conservative | align="right"|11,451 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | | ndependent Republican | align="right"|5,662 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | | a href="/encyclopedia/People-Movement" title="People Movement">People Movement | align="right"|4,576 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Workers-Revolutionary-Party" title="Workers Revolutionary Party">WRP | align="right"|4,191 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Campaign-for-Social-Democracy" title="Campaign for Social Democracy">Social Democrat | align="right"|2,646 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Independent-Democratic-Alliance" title="Independent Democratic Alliance">Independent Democratic | align="right"|1,976 | align="center"|0 | align="center"| | align="center"|0.0 | Total votes: 31,321,982. All parties with more than 1,500 votes shown. The seats won by the Ulster Unionists are compared with those won by Unionist MPs in the 1970 election, and the seat won by the Democratic Unionist candidate is compared with the result of the Protestant Unionist in 1970. See also MPs elected in the UK general election, 1974 (February).
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