The United Kingdom general election of 1923 was held on 6 December 1923. The Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin, won the most seats, but Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, and H. H. Asquith's reunited Liberal Party gained enough to produce a hung parliament. As the election had been fought on the Conservative proposals for tariff reform it was inevitable that they could not retain office and so the first ever Labour government was formed. Being in a minority it only lasted 10 months and another election was held in October 1924.
This was the last election in which a third party (the Liberals) won more than 100 seats, or received more than 26% of the vote.
[edit] Overview
During 1923 the Ruhr crisis lead to a growing feeling of German sympathy in Britain, with people increasingly fed up of international crises in Europe. By May 1923 the then Prime Minister Bonar Law fell ill and resigned on 22 May[1], after just 209 days in office. He was replaced by Baldwin. Having only had an election just the year before, Baldwin's party had a comfortable majority in the commons and could have waited another four years, but the government was concerned with unemployment and protectionism. He felt the need to receive a mandate from the people, which, if successful, would strengthen his grip on the Conservative party leadership.[2]
The result however backfired on Baldwin, who lost a host of seats to Labour and the Liberals. For the first time in history, Labour would be in government, albeit without a clear mandate or majority.
[edit] Results
| UK General Election 1923 |
|
Candidates |
Votes |
| Party |
Standing |
Elected |
Gained |
Unseated |
Net |
% of total |
% |
No. |
Net % |
| |
Conservative |
536 |
258 |
|
|
- 86 |
41.951 |
38.0 |
5,286,159 |
-0.5 |
| |
Labour |
427 |
191 |
|
|
+ 49 |
31.056 |
30.7 |
4,267,831 |
+1.0 |
| |
Liberal |
457 |
158 |
|
|
+ 96 |
25.691 |
29.7 |
4,129,922 |
+10.8 |
| |
Nationalist (NI) |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.487 |
0.4 |
54,157 |
N/A |
| |
Independent |
6 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
- 1 |
0.325 |
0.3 |
36,802 |
-0.5 |
| |
Communist |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
- 1 |
|
0.2 |
34,258 |
0.0 |
| |
Belfast Labour |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0.2 |
22,255 |
N/A |
| |
Independent Labour |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
- 1 |
|
0.2 |
17,331 |
0.0 |
| |
Independent Liberal |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
0.1 |
16,184 |
0.0 |
| |
Constitutionalist |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
- 1 |
|
0.1 |
15,500 |
0.0 |
| |
Independent Conservative |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
- 3 |
|
0.1 |
15,171 |
-0.8 |
| |
Scottish Prohibition |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0.1 |
12,877 |
0.0 |
| |
Christian Pacifist |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0.0 |
570 |
N/A |
Total number of votes cast: 13,909,017. All parties shown. Conservatives include Ulster Unionists.
[edit] Votes summary
| Popular vote |
|
|
|
|
|
| Conservative |
|
38.01% |
| Labour |
|
30.68% |
| Liberal |
|
29.69% |
| Independent |
|
0.61% |
| Others |
|
1% |
[edit] Seats summary
| Parliamentary seats |
|
|
|
|
|
| Conservative |
|
41.95% |
| Labour |
|
31.06% |
| Liberal |
|
25.69% |
| Independent |
|
0.49% |
| Others |
|
0.81% |
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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