UK general election, 1970

The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. The election was also a setback for the Liberal Party under its new leader Jeremy Thorpe, which lost half its seats. The Conservatives, when combined with the Ulster Unionists, held a majority of 31 over all other parties.

Most Opinion polls prior to the election had predicted a comfortable Labour victory, and had put Labour 12.4% ahead of the Conservatives. However on the day, a late swing put the Conservatives 3.4% ahead.

Party	Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
Conservative	13,145,521	330	+ 66	46.4
Labour	12,080,977	287	- 76	43.0
Liberal	2,117,638	6	- 6	7.5
Others	1,001,507	7	+ 5	3.1

The 7 "others" include the Speaker. The Conservative figure includes 8 Ulster Unionists.