| Election Name: | 1966 United Kingdom general election |
| Election Date: | 31 March 1966 |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1964 United Kingdom general election in Scotland |
| Previous Year: | 1964 |
| Previous Mps: | List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1964–1966) |
| Next Election: | 1970 United Kingdom general election in Scotland |
| Next Year: | 1970 |
| Seats For Election: | All 71 Scottish seats to the House of Commons |
| Elected Mps: | List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1966–1970) |
| Leader1: | Harold Wilson |
| Party1: | Scottish Labour |
| Last Election1: | 43 seats, 48.7% |
| Seats1: | 46 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,273,916 |
| Percentage1: | 49.9 |
| Swing1: | 1.2 |
| Leader2: | Edward Heath |
| Party2: | Conservative and Unionist |
| Last Election2: | 24 seats, 40.6% |
| Seats2: | 20 |
| Seat Change2: | 4 |
| Popular Vote2: | 960,675 |
| Percentage2: | 37.6 |
| Swing2: | 3.0% |
| Leader3: | Jo Grimond |
| Party3: | Scottish Liberal Party |
| Last Election3: | 4 seats, 7.6% |
| Seats3: | 5 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 172,447 |
| Percentage3: | 6.8% |
| Swing3: | 0.8% |
| Map Size: | 400px |
See main article: 1966 United Kingdom general election.
A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 31 March 1966, and all 71 seats in Scotland were contested.[1] The election took place only 17 months after the 1964 United Kingdom general election, with incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson deciding to call a snap election since his government had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs. Combined with results from across the UK, the result was a landslide victory for Wilson's Labour Party.
The election was first in which the Scottish Conservatives stood for election as a integral part of the Conservative Party, with the former Unionist Party (which had been aligned with, but separate from, the Conservatives), having merged into the Tories in April 1965.[2] [3] Both Labour and Liberal parties gained seats from the newly merged Conservatives at the election.
List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1966–1970)
| Party | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 3 | 1,273,916 | 49.9 | 1.2 | |||
| 20 | 4 | 960,675 | 37.6 | 3.0 | |||
| 5 | 1 | 172,447 | 6.8 | 0.8 | |||
| 0 | 128,474 | 5.0 | 2.6 | ||||
| 0 | 16,230 | 0.6 | 0.1 | ||||
| 0 | 638 | 0.0 | 0.2 | ||||
| Turnout: | 2,552,380 | ||||||