On This Day

30 May 1929

Polling day in the 1929 general election

The Labour Party lead by James Ramsay McDonald emerges as the largest party although without an overall majority. The Liberals recorded a net increase of 19 seats to 59 and polled over 5 million votes. The election represented a big disappointment for the Liberals. The party fought on an ambitious programme and presented a credible alternative government. Having slipped to third place in 1922 the party suffered the classic third party squeeze and although the Liberals won almost a quarter of the popular vote, it gained less than 10% of the seats. The election saw the return to parliament of a number of key figures including Sir Donald Maclean (North Cornwall), Isaac Foot (Bodmin) and Sir Herbert Samuel (Darwen).