1955 United Kingdom general election

1955 United Kingdom general election

← 1951 26 May 1955 1959 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 630 seats in the House of Commons 316 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
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[note 1] 277 6 Seat change 23 18 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 § Results
Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Anthony Eden Conservative Prime Minister after election Anthony Eden Conservative

The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election in 1951. It was a snap election: after Winston Churchill retired in April 1955, Anthony Eden took over and immediately called the election in order to gain a mandate for his government. It resulted in a majority of 60 seats for the government; the result remains the largest party share of the vote at a post-war general election. This was the first general election to be held during the reign of Elizabeth II. She had succeeded her father George VI the year after the previous election.

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