What if the Tories won the 1964 General Election?
What if the Tories won the 1964 General Election? The Labour Party led by Harold Wilson ended the 13-year reign of the Tories by clinching a narrow 4 seat majority by winning 317 seats (out of a total of 630). The Conservatives led by outgoing Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home won 304 seats, leaving the remaining 9 seats to the Liberals. Background In October 1963, the Conservative Government then led by Harold Macmillan was in dire straits following the Profumo scandal as well as the party seeming out-of-touch and patrician in an age where the technology boom was in the ascendency. The election of Harold Wilson as the new Labour Leader and Leader of the Opposition found tremendous traction among the public with the party leading by around 15-20% points. The hospitalization of Macmillan paved the way for a dignified exit. However, the succession for the Tory leadership was extremely corrosive. Macmillan not only opposed the candidature of his deputy, Rab Butler , but