February 1974 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held on 28 February 1974 to elect all 635 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The election ended in a hung parliament as no party had a majority. Nobody agreed to start a coalition, so Labour had to start a minority government (as they had won the most seats), and Harold Wilson became Prime Minister.

It is very hard to run a government if the party has no majority, and so the House of Commons agreed to hold another general election in October. This was done so that a party could win a majority.

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: February 1974 United Kingdom general election
- **country**: United Kingdom
- **type**: parliamentary
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 1970 United Kingdom general election
- **previous year**: 1970
- **outgoing members**: List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1970
- **next election**: October 1974 United Kingdom general election
- **next year**: Oct 1974
- **elected members**: List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, February 1974
- **seats for election**: All List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies (1974–1983), 635 seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons
- **majority seats**: 318
- **elected mps**: List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, February 1974
- **election date**: 28 February 1974
- **turnout**: 78.8%, 6.8%
- **image1**:
- **leader1**: Harold Wilson
- **leader since1**: 1963 Labour Party leadership election (UK), 14 February 1963
- **party1**: Labour Party (UK)
- **leaders seat1**: Huyton (UK Parliament constituency), Huyton
- **last election1**: 288 seats, 43.1%
- **seats before1**: 287
- **seats1**: **301**
- **seat change1**: 14
- **popular vote1**: 11,645,616
- **percentage1**: 37.2%
- **swing1**: 5.9%
- **image2**:
- **leader2**: Edward Heath
- **leader since2**: 1965 Conservative Party leadership election, 28 July 1965
- **party2**: Conservative Party (UK)
- **leaders seat2**: Sidcup (UK Parliament constituency), Sidcup
- **last election2**: 330 seats, 46.4%
- **seats before2**: 325
- **seats2**: 297
- **seat change2**: 28
- **popular vote2**: **11,872,180**
- **percentage2**: **37.9%**
- **swing2**: 8.5%
- **leader4**: Jeremy Thorpe
- **leader since4**: 1967 Liberal Party leadership election, 18 January 1967
- **party4**: Liberal Party (UK)
- **leaders seat4**: North Devon (UK Parliament constituency), North Devon
- **last election4**: 6 seats, 7.5%
- **seats before4**: 11
- **seats4**: 14
- **seat change4**: 3
- **popular vote4**: 6,059,519
- **percentage4**: 19.3%
- **swing4**: 11.8%
- **leader5**: William Wolfe
- **leader since5**: 1969 Scottish National Party leadership election, 1 June 1969
- **party5**: Scottish National Party
- **leaders seat5**: _Stood in West Lothian (UK Parliament constituency), West Lothian (lost)_
- **last election5**: 1 seat, 1.1%
- **seats before5**: 2
- **seats5**: 7
- **seat change5**: 5
- **popular vote5**: 633,180
- **percentage5**: 2.0%
- **swing5**: 0.9%
- **title**: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister
- **posttitle**: Prime Minister after election
- **before election**: Edward Heath
- **before party**: Conservative Party (UK)
- **after election**: Harold Wilson
- **after party**: Labour Party (UK)
- **map image**: UK General Election, February 1974.svg
- **map size**: 300px
- **map caption**: Colours show the winning party—as shown in
- **map2 image**:
- **map2 caption**: Composition of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons after the election