What was the worst Conservative general election result? Find out the year

July 4 has now passed which means you have had your chance to decide who you want to run the country for the next few years - what party did you vote for?

With the 2024 general election soon to be behind us, you might be wondering what the Conservative Party’s “worst ever” results were.

Let’s take a look at when the biggest political landslide was for the Tories.

What was the worst ever Tory result in the general election?

It’s thought the Conservatives' worst general election result yet was in 1906, when the party was led by Arthur Balfour. The general election took place from January 12 to February 8.

This was when the Liberals, led by Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman, won a "landslide majority" at the election.

The Journal of Liberal History explains: “In the General Election of January 1906 the Liberals swept to victory in a landslide result, which saw the party win 400 seats.

“Conservative strongholds such as Bath and Exeter were conquered as Liberal leader, Henry Campbell Bannerman capitalised on the unpopularity of the previous Tory administration, which had been replaced by his new Liberal government in December 1905.”

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It adds: “The Conservatives, who remained divided over the issue of tariff reform, returned just 129 MPs to Parliament, in addition to the 29 seats secured by the Liberal Unionists.

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“With the support of the 83 Irish Nationalist MPs and the 29 newly elected members of the Labour Representation Committee, the Liberals had an effective working majority of 358."

The Conservatives, who had been in control a month before the election lost more than half their seats and left the party with its fewest recorded seats “ever in history”.

This was closely followed by the “second-largest defeat” for the Tories in the 1997 general election which left the party with just 165 seats.