On Thursday 27 October 1931, the 1931 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 615 members of the House of Commons, with 492 constituencies being in England. 485 seats represented territorial constituencies contested under the first past the post electoral system, and seven additional seats represented the university constituencies. Three university constituencies returned two members through the single transferable vote electoral system and one returned one member by the first past the post system.

In this election, the parties forming the National Government across the United Kingdom won 67 per cent of the popular vote and over 90 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons.

Candidates

Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1931 general election in England, excluding those in the university constituencies.

Affiliation CandidatesConservative Party 427Labour Party 419Liberal Party 85Liberal National Party 28National Labour Organisation 17New Party 16Communist Party of Great Britain 15Independent Labour Party 9National 4Independent 2Independent Liberals 2Commonwealth Land Party 2National Independent 1Independent Liberal 1Independent Labour 1Liverpool Protestant Party 1Agricultural Party 1Workers 1Total 1,032

Seat summary

Below is a table summarising the total number of seats, gains and losses for each party in both the territorial county and borough constituencies and the English university constituencies.

+PartySeats Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%)   National Government (Total) 460 colspan="2" 199 93.5 403 177 0 177 81.9   Liberal National 23 colspan="2" 23 4.7 19 11 27 16 3.9 11 colspan="2" 11 2.2 4 colspan="2" 4 0.8   Labour Opposition (Total) 29 1 198 197 5.9 29 1 198 197 5.9 0 colspan="3" —   National Independent 2 colspan="2" 2 0.4   Independent 1 0 3 3 0.2   Other 0 0 1 1 — Total 492

County and borough constituency results

Below is a table summarising the constituency results of the 1931 general election in England, excluding the result in the university constituencies.

+Party>SeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference   National Government (Total) 455 colspan="2" 199 93.8 12,485,895 69.1 398 177 0 177 81.9 10,453,349 57.8 19.0 19 11 27 16 3.9 1,007,510 5.8 17.8   Liberal National 23 colspan="2" 23 4.7 632,155 3.4 11 colspan="2" 11 2.3 292,688 1.5 4 colspan="2" 4 0.8 100,193 0.6   Labour Opposition (Total) 29 1 198 197 6.0 5,464,425 30.2 6.7 29 1 198 197 6.0 5,347,584 29.6 7.3 0 colspan="3" — 116,841 0.6   Independent Liberals 0 colspan="3" — 31,989 0.2   Communist 0 0 0 — 21,452 0.1   New Party 0 colspan="3" — 20,721 0.1   Independent Labour 0 0 0 — 17,090 0.1 0.1   National Independent 1 colspan="2" 1 0.2 17,017 0.1   Liverpool Protestant 0 colspan="3" — 7,834 0.0   Agricultural 0 colspan="3" — 6,993 0.0   Independent 0 0 2 2 — 3,335 0.0 0.4   Independent Liberal 0 0 0 — 2,578 0.0 0.1   Workers 0 colspan="3" — 2,358 0.0   Commonwealth Land 0 colspan="3" — 1,347 0.0   Other 0 0 1 1 — 0 0.0 Total 485 0 100.0 18,083,034 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 24,423,766 76.1 0.5

Popular vote

Parliament Seats

University constituency results

University results summary

Below is a table summarising the seats and vote share of the English university constituencies in the 1931 general election.

+PartySeatsFirst preference votes Total Gains Losses Net Total Of all (%)   National Government (Total) 5 colspan="2" 8,140 32.2 5 0 0 5,381 21.3 0 colspan="3" 2,759 10.9   Liberal National 0 colspan="3" 0 0.0 0 colspan="3" 0 0.0   National Independent 0 colspan="3" 0 0.0   National Independent 1 colspan="2" 1 8,461 33.5   Independent 1 0 1 1 5,096 20.1   Independent National 0 colspan="3" 3,134 12.4   New Party 0 colspan="3" 461 1.8 Total 7 25,292

Cambridge University

The constituency for Cambridge University returned two Members of Parliament using the single transferable vote electoral system. The electorate consisted of graduates of the university.

Combined English Universities

The Combined English Universities constituency, which represented effectively all red brick universities and Durham University, returned two Members of Parliament using the single transferable vote electoral system. The electorate consisted of graduates of the university.

London University

The constituency for London University returned one Member of Parliament using the First-past-the-post electoral system. The electorate consisted of graduates of the university.

Oxford University

The constituency for Oxford University returned two Members of Parliament using the single transferable vote electoral system. The electorate consisted of graduates of the university.

See also 1931 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1931 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1931 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

Notes

References