List of government defeats in the House of Commons since 1945


The following article is a list of government defeats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 1945; that is, where the government whips have instructed their MPs to vote a certain way on a division of the House and have subsequently been defeated. Whilst most defeats have been on motions or bills scheduled in "government time", on occasion motions proposed by opposition parties or backbench MPs that are critical of government policy or practice, such as opposition day motions, are passed despite the government's efforts.
Most government defeats since World War II have occurred in periods of minority government or where the government has a small majority. Government defeats have been caused by backbench rebellions and by opposition parties voting against a government when they had more MPs present in the House of Commons. Earlier large defeats of governments were for the first MacDonald government, which suffered two defeats by a margin of 166 and 161 respectively on 8 October 1924 regarding the Campbell Case, and by a margin of 140 in June 1924.

Attlee (1945–1951)

Attlee led two ministries: the first Attlee ministry and the second Attlee ministry.
These defeats were under the second Attlee ministry, when the Labour Party saw its majority reduced from 146 to 5 seats in the 1950 election.
  • 29 March 1950 – A motion to adjourn a debate on fuel was won by the Opposition 283–257.
  • 9 April 1951 – An order to reduce cheese rations was annulled.
  • 5 July 1951 – The Plasterboard Order was annulled.
  • 16 July 1951 – An amendment to the Forestry Bill was passed 232–229

    Churchill (2nd term, 1951–1955)

  • 11 November 1953 – Churchill's Government lost a prayer to annul on the Miscellaneous Controls Order 1953.

    Eden (1955–1957)

Government suffered no defeats in the House of Commons.

Macmillan (1957–1963)

's Government suffered no defeats in the House of Commons.

Douglas-Home (1963–1964)

's short-lived Government suffered no defeats in the House of Commons.

Wilson (1st term, 1964–1970)

  • 5 March 1965 – A motion, moved by Conservative MP Forbes Hendry, to put the question on a procedural motion relating to the Murder Bill was passed by 128–117.
  • 5 March 1965 – The aforementioned Conservative motion, namely to discharge the Murder Bill Standing Committee and replace it with a Committee of the Whole House, was passed by 128–120.
  • 6 July 1965 – The second reading of a new clause, tabled by the Conservatives, to the Finance Bill, which sought to ensure that the amount of capital gains tax payable by a unit trust or investment trust did not exceed that payable by an individual, was passed by 180–166.
  • 6 July 1965 – A motion to add the aforementioned new clause to the bill was passed by 180–167.
  • 6 July 1965 – A motion to adjourn the debate on the Finance Bill, which was opposed by the government, was passed by 180–167.
  • 4 May 1970 – A Conservative amendment to the Administration of Justice Bill was passed by 105–104.

    Heath (1970–1974)

's government suffered six defeats in the House of Commons during its four years in office.
  • 24 April 1972 – A new clause, tabled by the Conservative backbencher Geoffrey Finsberg, to the Housing Finance Bill, which related to service charges for unfurnished lettings, was passed with support of opposition parties by 251–247. However, the motion to add the new clause to the bill was later voted down by 245–242.
  • 19 July 1972 – An amendment, moved by Conservative backbencher Arthur Jones, to the Local Government Bill, which sought to give new district councils the power to control refuse disposal, was passed with the support of opposition parties by 190–186.
  • 20 October 1972 – A Labour amendment to a Lords Amendment on the Criminal Justice Bill, which sought to reduce the minimum age for jury service from 21 to 18, was passed by 53–47.
  • 22 November 1972 – A Labour motion to disapprove of the government's Statement of Immigration Rules for Control on Entry was passed by 275–240.
  • 13 June 1973 – The second reading of a new clause to the Maplin Development Bill, which orders the Civil Aviation Authority to consult on aerospace development, was approved, despite opposition from the government, by 267–250.
  • 12 July 1973 – A government amendment to an opposition motion regarding export licences for sheep was rejected by 285–264.

    Wilson (2nd term, 1974–1976)

's second government suffered 25 defeats in the House of Commons between 1974 and 1976. The majority of these defeats, 18 in total, occurred in June and July 1974, when Wilson did not have a majority in the House of Commons after the February 1974 general election produced a hung parliament. Wilson called a further general election in October 1974 in an attempt to gain a majority. He did, but this majority was just three seats.
  • 19 June 1974 – The second reading of a government new clause to the Finance Bill, which sought to continue to exempt trade unions from certain taxes under section 338 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970, was defeated by 308–299.
  • 20 June 1974 – A government amendment to an opposition motion that regretted "the government's damaging industrial policy" was defeated by 311–290.
  • 20 June 1974 – The aforementioned opposition motion that regretted "the government's damaging industrial policy" was passed, again by 311–290.
  • 27 June 1974 – A government amendment to an opposition motion, endorsing the government's policy on local government finance, was rejected by 298–289.
  • 27 June 1974 – An opposition motion, calling for a fundamental reform to the government's local government rates system, was passed by 298–289.
  • 11 July 1974 – A Conservative amendment to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, which proposed to make the dismissal of an employee for not being a member of a trade union unfair, was passed by 291–290. The original division resulted in a tied vote of 291–291, but it emerged the next day that one too many 'no' votes had been counted.
  • 11 July 1974 – A further amendment to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, which attempted to make the dismissal of an employee on the grounds on refusal to join a trade union unfair was passed by 283–282. Again, the government's defeat was only realised the following day when it became clear that a tied vote had been caused by the overcounting of the 'no' votes.
  • 16 July 1974 – The second reading of a Conservative new clause to the Finance Bill, which proposed raising the two limits of corporation tax liability, was passed by 292–267.
  • 16 July 1974 – An amendment to the Finance Bill to restrict the rate of pool betting duty was passed by 291–274.
  • 16 July 1974 – A government amendment to the Finance Bill, designed to make VAT charges on the hiring of goods retrospective to April 1973, was defeated by 298–280.
  • 16 July 1974 – A Liberal amendment to the Finance Bill, proposing to set the additional rate of income tax on investment incomes at 15% on incomes over £2,000, was passed by 296–280.
  • 18 July 1974 – A government motion to disagree with a Lords Amendment to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Bill, which proposed to keep responsibility for health and safety in agriculture with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, was defeated by 159–153.
  • 18 July 1974 – A government motion to disagree with a Lords amendment to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Bill, which proposed to give power to non-unionised employees to appoint health and safety representatives, was defeated by 147–143.
  • 30 July 1974 – A government motion to disagree with a new clause added by the Lords to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, which proposed to outlaw arbitrary exclusion of a person from a trade union, was defeated by 276–270.
  • 30 July 1974 – A government motion to disagree with a new clause added by the Lords to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, which required trade unions to have specified rules for conducting ballots for their governing bodies, was defeated by 280–269.
  • 30 July 1974 – A government motion to disagree with a Lords amendment to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, which would allow trade unions who failed to follow the bill's rules to be deregistered, was defeated by 281–271.
  • 30 July 1974 – A government motion to disagree with a Lords amendment to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, which would give protection to civil employees taking part in trade disputes, was defeated by 282–272.
  • 30 July 1974 – A government motion to disagree with a Lords amendment to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, which would restrict immunities to disputes in Britain and change the rules regarding strikes in Britain in support of foreign workers from the same multi-national company, was defeated by 280–272.
  • 29 January 1975 – A government amendment to the Social Security Benefits Bill, which sought to the restore the earnings rule limit for retired people at £13, was defeated by 280–265.
  • 2 July 1975 – A government amendment to the Industry Bill, which proposed to remove obligations on government to disclose forecasts of economic parameters to certain companies, was defeated by 220–149.
  • 2 July 1975 – A government amendment to the Industry Bill, which sought to remove Schedule 3 from the bill which would make all planning agreements conditional on the government disclosing economic forecasts, was rejected by 230–147.
  • 17 July 1975 – A Conservative amendment to the Finance Bill, which proposed to exclude certain television sets from the higher 25% level of VAT, was passed by 108–106.
  • 4 August 1975 – A government amendment to disagree with a Lords amendment to the Housing Finance Bill, which sought to remove a clause that would disqualify any councillors who failed to implement the Housing Finance Act 1972, was defeated by 268–261.
  • 11 February 1976 – An opposition motion to reduce the salary of the Secretary of State for Industry by £1,000, in essence a motion of no confidence, was passed by 214–209. However, the government Chief Whip, Robert Mellish, immediately raised questions as to the outcome of the vote in regards of alleged miscoutings, which in turn led to the government tabling a motion to counter the no confidence motion, which it won by 296–280.
  • 10 March 1976 – A motion to approve the government's public expenditure policy was defeated by 284–256. It is unclear whether this motion had any impact on Harold Wilson's resignation, which followed 6 days later.