Introduction

Abstract

When the Labour Party won its unexpected victory in July 1945, the extent of its success was such as to provoke comparison with January 1906, when the Liberals had been almost equally triumphant. On neither occasion had the major party of the Left secured more than half the total poll: but it was so far ahead of its rivals as to be able to win a great majority of parliamentary seats. In 1906 the Liberals numbered 400, in a House of Commons totalling 670; in 1945 Labour gained 393 in a House of 640. In the general elections that intervened, however, the Conservatives had almost invariably been the largest party in Parliament; and it was only in 1929 that Labour, with a slightly smaller share of the total vote, secured a lead in the number of seats — though not a sufficient lead to give it a majority over all other parties.KeywordsLabour GovernmentLabour PartyLiberal PartyGeneral CouncilCollective SecurityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.