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1931 UK general election

United Kingdom general election, 1931
United Kingdom
← 1929 27 October 1931 1935 →

All 615 seats to the House of Commons
308 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 76.4% (Increase0.1%)
  First party Second party Third party
  Stanley Baldwin ggbain.35233.jpg Arthurhenderson.jpg Portrait of John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon.jpg
Leader Stanley Baldwin Arthur Henderson John Simon
Party Conservative Labour Liberal National
Leader since 23 May 1923 1 September 1931 5 October 1931
Leader's seat Bewdley Burnley (defeated) Spen Valley
Last election 260 seats, 38.1% 287 seats, 37.1% N/A
Seats won 470 52* 35
Seat change Increase 210 Decrease 225 Increase35
Popular vote 11,377,022 6,339,306 761,705
Percentage 55.0% 30.6% 3.7%
Swing Increase 16.9% Decrease 6.5% New party

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Gws samuel 01.jpg Ramsay MacDonald ggbain 35734.jpg David Lloyd George.jpg
Leader Herbert Samuel Ramsay MacDonald David Lloyd George
Party Liberal National Labour Independent Liberal
Leader since October 1931 24 August 1931 1931
Leader's seat Darwen Seaham Caernarvon Boroughs
Last election 59 seats, 23.6% N/A N/A
Seats won 33 13 4
Seat change Decrease26 Increase13 Increase4
Popular vote 1,346,571 316,741 106,106
Percentage 6.5% 1.5% 0.5%
Swing Decrease 17.1% New party New party

UK General Election, 1931.png

Prime Minister before election

Ramsay MacDonald
Labour

Subsequent Prime Minister

Ramsay MacDonald
National


Ramsay MacDonald
Labour

Ramsay MacDonald
National

The United Kingdom general election held on Tuesday 27 October 1931 saw a landslide election victory for the National Government which had been formed two months previously after the collapse of the previous Labour government. The bulk of the National Government's support came from the Conservative Party, and the Conservatives won 470 seats. The Labour party suffered its greatest defeat, losing four out of five seats compared with the previous election. The Liberal Party, split into three factions, continued to shrink and the Liberal National faction never reunited. Ivor Bulmer-Thomas said the results "were the most astonishing in the history of the British party system". It was the last election where one party (the Conservatives) received an absolute majority of the votes cast and the last UK general election not to take place on a Thursday.

After battling with the Great Depression for two years, Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government had been faced with a sudden budget crisis in August 1931. The cabinet deadlocked over its response, with several influential members such as Arthur Henderson unwilling to support the budget cuts (in particular a cut in the rate of unemployment benefit) which were pressed by the civil service and opposition parties. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden refused to consider deficit spending or tariffs as alternative solutions. When the government resigned, MacDonald was encouraged by King George V to form an all-party National Government to deal with the immediate crisis.


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