The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their seats. The Conservatives, in coalition with the Ulster Unionists, would be given a majority of 31.

Most opinion polls prior to the election had predicted a comfortable Labour victory and had put Labour up 12.4% ahead of the Conservatives. However on election day, a late swing gave the Conservatives a 3.4% lead.

The most notable casualty of the election was George Brown, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, who lost to the Conservative candidate in the Belper constituency. Brown had held the seat since 1945.


On the BBC, the election coverage was led by Cliff Michelmore along with Robin Day, David Butler and Robert McKenzie. There were various cutaways to the BBC regions. The coverage was shown again on BBC Parliament on 26 September 2003, and again on 18 July 2005 as a tribute to Edward Heath upon his death the previous day.