All 630 seats in the House of Commons 316 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout
78.7%, 1.9%
First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
Harold Macmillan
Hugh Gaitskell
Jo Grimond
Party
Conservative
Labour
Liberal
Leader since
10 January 1957
14 December 1955
5 November 1956
Leader's seat
Bromley
Leeds South
Orkney and Shetland
Last election
345 seats, 49.7%
277 seats, 46.4%
6 seats, 2.7%
Seats won
365
258
6
Seat change
20
19
Popular vote
13,750,875
12,216,172
1,640,760
Percentage
49.4%
43.8%
5.9%
Swing
0.3%
2.6%
3.2%
Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results
Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election
Harold Macmillan
Conservative
Prime Minister after election
Harold Macmillan
Conservative
The 1959 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 8 October 1959. It marked a third consecutive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, now led by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. For the second time in a row, the Conservatives increased their overall majority in Parliament, this time to a landslide majority of 100 seats, having gained 20 seats for a return of 365. The Labour Party, led by Hugh Gaitskell, lost 19 seats and returned 258. The Liberal Party, led by Jo Grimond, again returned only six MPs to the House of Commons, but managed to increase its overall share of the vote to 5.9%, compared to just 2.7% four years earlier.
The Conservatives won the largest number of votes in Scotland, but narrowly failed to win the most seats in that country. They have not made either achievement ever since. Both Jeremy Thorpe, a future Liberal leader, and Margaret Thatcher, a future Conservative leader and eventually Prime Minister, first entered the House of Commons after this election.
1951 election
MPs
1955 election
MPs
1959 election
MPs
1964 election
MPs
1966 election
MPs
and 28 Related for: 1959 United Kingdom general election information
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Global Information
1.9%
