United Kingdom general election, 1955

United Kingdom general election, 1955

← 1951 26 May 1955 1959 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 630 seats in the House of Commons 316 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	76.8% (5.8%)
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 0 Popular vote 13,310,891 12,405,254 722,402 Percentage 49.7% 46.4% 2.7% Swing 1.7% 2.4% 0.2%
Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
PM before election Anthony Eden Conservative Subsequent PM Anthony Eden Conservative

Anthony Eden
Conservative

Anthony Eden
Conservative

The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against the Labour Party, then in their twentieth year of leadership by Clement Attlee.

This general election has since been described by many as one of the "dullest" post war elections, because there was little change in the country, with Labour steadily losing ground owing to infighting between the left (Bevanites) and the right (Gaitskellites). This resulted in an unclear election message from the Labour Party. It was the fifth and last general election fought by Labour leader Clement Attlee, who by this time was 72. Eden had only just become leader of the Conservative party a few weeks before the election, after the retirement of Winston Churchill, but he had long been considered the heir apparent to the Conservative leadership. The Conservatives were hoping to take advantage of the end of food rationing and the good mood created by the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. Eden himself was telegenic, although not a great public speaker, and gradual economic growth benefited the party greatly. However, it was the last time the Conservatives won the most seats in Scotland; after 1959, Labour established itself as the dominant party in that country at UK general elections, a position it maintained until the rise of the Scottish National Party at the 2015 election.