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The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson winning an overall majority of just 3 seats. The election of February that year had produced an unexpected hung parliament. Coalition talks between the Conservatives and other parties such as the Liberals and the Ulster Unionists failed, allowing Labour leader Harold Wilson to form a minority government. The October campaign was not as vigorous or exciting as the one in February. Despite continuing high inflation, Labour was able to boast that it had ended the miners' strike, which had dogged Heath's premiership, and had returned some stability. The Conservative Party, still led by Edward Heath, released a manifesto promoting national unity; however their chances of forming a government were hindered by the Ulster Unionist Party refusing to take their whip at Westminster in response to the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973. In the election the Labour Party won 319 seats, allowing them to form a majority government, albeit with a majority of only 3. The Conservatives and the Liberals each saw their vote share fall, and Conservative leader Edward Heath, who had lost three of the four elections he contested, was ousted as party leader in February 1975 and replaced with future Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The Scottish National Party won 11 of Scotland's 71 seats and 30% of the Scottish popular vote, their best Westminster representation until 2015. Subsequently, Labour's narrow parliamentary majority had disappeared by 1977, through a series of by-election losses and defections. They then required deals with the Liberals, the Ulster Unionists, the Scottish Nationalists and the Welsh Nationalists. This was the last general election won by Labour until 1997: the next four elections all produced an outright Conservative victory. The election was broadcast live on the BBC, and was presented by David Butler, Alastair Burnet, Robert McKenzie, Robin Day and Sue Lawley.〔(October '74 Election results programme )〕〔(October '74 Election results round-up )〕 ==Campaign== The brief period between the elections gave Wilson the opportunity to demonstrate reasonable progress. Despite high inflation, the miners' strike that had dogged Heath was over and some stability had been restored. Following the February election Heath had remained largely out of the public eye. As was expected, the campaign was not as exciting as the one in February, and overall coverage by broadcasters was significantly scaled back. The Conservatives campaigned on a manifesto of national unity, in response to the mood of the public. Labour campaigned on its recent successes in government, and although the party was divided over Europe, their strengths outweighed that of Heath, who knew his future relied on an election victory. As for the Liberals and the SNP Devolution was a key issue, and was now one that the two main parties also felt the need to address. As for the Liberal manifesto, they simply reissued the one they had created for the last election.〔(Oct '74: Wilson Makes it Four ) BBC News〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United Kingdom general election, October 1974」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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