Auto-generated recap of a concluded election. Figures are the certified result. This article can be edited; edits are preserved and not overwritten by regeneration.
At a glance
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Seats in chamber | 625 (313 for a majority) |
| LAB seats | 251 (+70) |
| CON seats | 144 (-98) |
| TRP seats | 106 (+19) |
| LD seats | 100 (-15) |
| WPGB seats | 24 (+24) |
| Government | Labour Party (LAB) — plurality |
Overview
The 1975 House of Commons election produced a hung parliament, with the Labour Party winning the most seats — 251 — but falling 62 short of the 313 needed for a majority. Labour's gain of 70 seats was the largest of any party, yet the chamber remains fragmented across five parties. The Conservative and Unionist Party suffered a catastrophic loss of 98 seats, dropping to 144, while two smaller forces — The Revival Party and the new Workers' Party of Great Britain — reshaped the balance of power.
The Chamber
The 625-seat House of Commons is now split five ways. Labour holds 251 seats, the Conservatives 144, The Revival Party 106, the Liberal Democrats 100, and the Workers' Party of Great Britain 24. No party approaches the 313-seat majority threshold, so Labour's plurality leaves it 62 seats short of forming a government alone. The seat-composition bar shows a chamber with no dominant : Labour's 251 is only 107 seats ahead of the Conservatives, and the combined opposition of Conservatives, Revival, Liberal Democrats, and Workers' Party totals 374 — comfortably more than Labour. The Revival Party's rise to 106 seats (net +19) makes it the third-largest force, while the Workers' Party enters the Commons for the first time with 24 seats, all net gains from zero.
What Moved
The net-seat-change bar tells the story of a Conservative collapse and a Labour surge. Labour gained 70 seats, the Conservatives lost 98, the Liberal Democrats lost 15, while The Revival Party gained 19 and the Workers' Party gained 24. The Conservative losses were not concentrated in one region but spread across nearly every constituency. In the South East (SEE), Labour gained 20 seats while the Conservatives lost 17 and the Liberal Democrats lost 14 — a 38–32 Labour plurality in an 81-seat delegation. In Scotland (SCO), the Conservatives lost 16 seats while Labour gained 6 and The Revival Party gained 10, leaving Labour with 40 of 71 seats. In London (LON), the Conservatives lost 14 seats, but Labour actually lost 3 there — the Workers' Party picked up 18 seats, its single largest regional gain, turning London into a three-way contest with Labour 35, Conservatives 28, and Workers' Party 18.
The biggest constituency swings chart highlights where the ground shifted most. The South East's combined swing — Labour +20 and Conservative -17 — was the largest single-region realignment. The South West (SWE) matched Labour's +20 gain while The Revival Party lost 10 there, an unusual reversal for a party that gained nationally. Yorkshire and the Humber (YHU) saw The Revival Party gain 11 seats while Labour lost 7 and the Conservatives lost 6, leaving the Liberal Democrats with a 24-seat plurality. The Revival Party's gains were uneven: +11 in the South East, +11 in Yorkshire, +10 in Scotland, but -10 in the South West and -2 in both the East Midlands and North West.
Seats to Watch
The closest constituencies chart shows how thin some pluralities were. The East Midlands (EMI) was decided by a single percentage point: Labour took 13 seats to The Revival Party's 12, with the Conservatives on 8 and Liberal Democrats on 4. The West Midlands (WMI) was equally tight — Labour 16, Revival 15, Liberal Democrats 14, Conservatives 8, a 1% margin. The East of England (EAE) was the only region where the Conservatives held a plurality, and barely: 19 seats to Labour's 17, a 2% margin, despite the Conservatives losing 10 seats there. Northern Ireland (NIR) produced the Workers' Party's only regional plurality — 6 seats to Labour's 2, Conservatives' 2, and Liberal Democrats' 2, a 4% margin in a 12-seat delegation. The South East, despite its large Labour gain, was still only a 6% margin (38–32 over the Conservatives), and London's Labour plurality was 7% (35–28 over the Conservatives). These knife-edge results mean the next election could easily flip several of these regions.
Results by constituency
| Constituency | Seats | Split | Change vs prior |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAE | 47 | CON 19 – LAB 17 – LD 6 – TRP 5 | LAB +3, CON -10, LD +2, TRP +5 |
| EMI | 37 | LAB 13 – TRP 12 – CON 8 – LD 4 | LAB +6, CON -7, LD +3, TRP -2 |
| LON | 91 | LAB 35 – CON 28 – WPGB 18 – LD 10 – TRP 0 | LAB -3, CON -14, LD -1, WPGB +18 |
| NEE | 27 | LD 17 – TRP 6 – LAB 4 – CON 0 – WPGB 0 | CON -5, LD +7, TRP -2 |
| NIR | 12 | WPGB 6 – LAB 2 – CON 2 – LD 2 | LAB +2, CON -7, LD -1, WPGB +6 |
| NWE | 75 | LAB 31 – LD 23 – TRP 12 – CON 9 | LAB +10, CON -5, LD -3, TRP -2 |
| SCO | 71 | LAB 40 – CON 21 – TRP 10 – LD 0 | LAB +6, CON -16, TRP +10 |
| SEE | 81 | LAB 38 – CON 32 – TRP 11 – LD 0 | LAB +20, CON -17, LD -14, TRP +11 |
| SWE | 43 | LAB 31 – CON 8 – TRP 4 – LD 0 | LAB +20, CON -8, LD -2, TRP -10 |
| WAL | 36 | TRP 20 – LAB 12 – CON 4 – LD 0 | LAB +3, CON -1, LD -4, TRP +2 |
| WMI | 53 | LAB 16 – TRP 15 – LD 14 – CON 8 | LAB +10, CON -2, LD -4, TRP -4 |
| YHU | 52 | LD 24 – LAB 12 – TRP 11 – CON 5 | LAB -7, CON -6, LD +2, TRP +11 |