1964 general election

Held on 1964-10-15. The result below is the official outcome; underneath it, where we hold the polls, is how close each pollster’s final poll came.

Result

Party Share (%)
Labour Party 44.8%
Conservative Party 42.9%
Liberal Democrats 11.4%

How the final polls compared

Each pollster’s last poll in the 30 days before this election, and how far it was from the result. Only parties the pollster reported are counted.

Pollster Final poll Days before Parties scored Difference
Gallup 1964-10-13 2 3 0.7 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Labour Party 46.0% 44.8% +1.2 percentage points
Conservative Party 42.5% 42.9% -0.4 percentage points
Liberal Democrats 11.0% 11.4% -0.4 percentage points
NOP 1964-10-09 6 3 2.5 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Liberal Democrats 7.9% 11.4% -3.5 percentage points
Labour Party 47.4% 44.8% +2.6 percentage points
Conservative Party 44.3% 42.9% +1.4 percentage points
Research Services Ltd 1964-10-01 14 3 3.2 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Liberal Democrats 7.0% 11.4% -4.4 percentage points
Conservative Party 46.0% 42.9% +3.1 percentage points
Labour Party 47.0% 44.8% +2.2 percentage points

How this is measured: for each past election we take each pollster’s last poll in the 30 days before polling day and compare it, party by party, with the result. The figure is the mean absolute difference across the parties that appear in both. Only parties the pollster actually reported are counted. A late shift in opinion is not the same thing as a polling error.