1966 United Kingdom general election in Wales
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31 March 1966
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All 36 Welsh seats to the House of Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 79.0% ( 1.1 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On Thursday 31 March 1966, the 1966 United Kingdom general election was held in Wales, to elect all 630 members of the House of Commons, with 36 constituencies being in Wales.[1][2]
The election took place only 17 months after the 1964 United Kingdom general election, with incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson deciding to call a snap election since his government had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs. Combined with results from across the UK, the result was a landslide victory for Wilson's Labour Party.
The election saw the Labour party win the most votes and seats in Wales, increasing its seats in Wales from 28 to 32. The Labour party won Cardiff North, Conwy and Monmouth from the Conservative Party. Labour also won Cardiganshire from the Liberal Party.
The Conservative Party retained, however, its seats of Barry, Denbigh and West Flintshire in Wales. The Liberal National Party, which had been in a constituency alliance with the Conservative Party, did not stand any candidates in Wales at this election.
The Liberal Party retained only one of its seats, being Montgomeryshire. The MP was Emlyn Hooson.
Candidates
[edit]Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1966 general election in Wales.[3][4][5]
| Affiliation | Candidates | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Party | 36 | |
| Conservative Party | 36 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 20 | |
| Liberal Party | 11 | |
| Communist Party of Great Britain | 8 | |
| Total | 111 | |
Results
[edit]Below is a table summarising the results of the 1966 general election in Wales.
| Party[6][4] | Seats | Aggregate Votes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Gains | Losses | Net | Of total (%) | Total | Of total (%) | Change (%) | ||
| Labour | 32 | 4 | 0 |  4 | 88.9 | 863,692 | 60.7 | 2.8 | |
| Conservative | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8.3 | 396,795 | 27.9 | 1.5 | |
| Liberal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.8 | 89,108 | 6.3 | 1.0 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | — | 61,071 | 4.3 | 0.5 | |
| Communist | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 12,769 | 0.9 | 0.3 | |
| Total | 36 | 0 | 100.0 | 1,423,435 | 100.0 | 0.0 | |||
| Registered voters, and turnout | 1,800,925 | 79.0[7] | 1.1 | ||||||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ F.W.S. Craig (1971). British parliamentary election results, 1950-1970. Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0900178027.
- ↑ Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.
- ↑ Cracknell, Richard; Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 23. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- 1 2 "UK General Elections Results 1832-2019". Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Colin Rallings; Michael Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.
- ↑ Colin Rallings; Michael Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.
- ↑ Cracknell, Richard; Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 29. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
