10 October 1974

Election day in the second election of 1974

The result saw the Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson, gain a small majority of three seats. The Liberal Party from its high of six million votes in the February election entered the contest with high hopes. Party leader Jeremy Thorpe with typical flair had, over the summer,  toured the West of England in a hovercraft campaigning in a series of Liberal target constituencies and gaining a lot of publicity, although things didn’t always go according to plan. The result was a disappointment for, although the party fielded more candidates, the vote was down by 1%. Two seats won in February – Bodmin and Hazel Grove were lost and Christopher Mayhew who had joined the Liberals from Labour in July failed to take Bath. The one plus was David Penhaligon’s capture of Truro from the Conservatives.